Some Say I Got Devil
by DuchessKenobi
Summary: Part three of the Ashla Spectrum trilogy. Soniee flees Mandalore and the Empire under a new identity with hopes of finding out who she really is on Onderon the home of her birth parents.
1. arrival

if you don't read anything else before you begin it might be helpful to check out Ch4 of Ashla Spectrum and the teaser from the end of Ashla Awareness. Once you have done so I give you my blessing to enjoy the following...

Some say I got devil  
Some say I got angel  
But I'm just a girl in trouble  
I don't think I'm in danger  
Don't think I'm in danger  
No, I know I'm not in danger  
But some have tried to sell me  
All kinds of things to save me  
From hurting like a woman, and crying like a baby  
Something like a woman, crying like a baby

And all the things that I have seen  
Qualify me for a part in your dream  
Qualify me for this dream

And though I'd like to tell it  
Exactly how I feel it  
Somehow the music  
Hides it and conceals it  
Hides it and conceals it  
Oh, it hides

And all the things that I have seen  
Can be hidden in a part of my dream  
Gonna hide it in my dream

The young woman who stepped out of the freighter wore a mis-match of clothing. A baggy flight suit covered most of her but over that she had a jacket with the words 'Ruping Queen' embroidered in old Onderonian runes. Not that she knew what they said. It was part of the reason she was here, to find someone to teach her how to read the characters there and in the old book she carried. On her shoulder was a clone trooper armor plate with the former Galactic Republic Senate symbol painted on it in red. And on her head she wore a Mandalorian helmet painted with the symbol for Clan Ordo. She hoped to recreate herself here or to figure out how to make sense of all of these parts of herself that she couldn't quite mash together.

She readjusted the book in her arms along with an old holo notebook and she placed a hand on her abdomen. It felt strange to find it flat and empty. She was still a few weeks away from what should have been her due date. Now that date would pass as just any other on the standard calendar. She used the same hand tip the helmet back and to scrub a tear away from her eye. She was amazed that she had any tears left. Her planet was gone. Momma was gone. _Ba'buir_ was gone. Sundari was gone. The baby was gone. And Korkie was as good as gone. He blamed her for all of it and well he should. It was all her fault. She should have never been in the Mandalore system in the first place. Her mother was from here, from Onderon and Soniee hoped to find something here, some reason for it all.

But where to start. She'd need a place to stay and she had to find someone who spoke the old language, someone who could teach her. The Empire didn't like domestic languages. They wanted everyone to be as identical as their storm troopers. She had heard they wanted to ban Mando'a but that would never happen. As long as there were _Mando'ade_ who believed in the _Resol'nare_ , _Mando'a_ would be spoken among them with pride. But here Onderonian had been a dying language for decades, maybe centuries. Lux had been born here, gone to school here and he couldn't even be of much help to her to translate the book she held close to her heart.

"Hey," a deep gruff voice jolted her out of her train of thoughts. The speaker was some alien species she had never encountered before. He was covered in purple fur and had deep blue eyes. He walked slightly hunched but even so was very tall. He looked something like how she had once imagined a Wookie might look. "You got somewhere to go?"

"Who me?" she looked around and didn't see anyone else he might be addressing.

"Yeah." He smiled. He might have been a fierce predator but she didn't get that sense from him at all. "You look lost."

"I know I'm in Iziz." She said still behind the safety of the helmet.

"Yeah. That's right. You got friends, a place to stay?"

Soniee had no idea why she should trust this monster but for whatever reason she did. She removed the helmet. "No. No I don't."

"Well, I'm Zal. Welcome to Onderon." He held out a large purple hand and she awkwardly tried to juggle her holo notebook and book and helmet to shake his.

He laughed and waved it off. "It's alright. What's your name?"

"I'm er Dara." She had a feeling sticking to her own name wouldn't be a good idea. Her new name came from the _Mando'a_ , ' _Dar_ ,' _no longer,_ and she added the ending so it would sound more Onderonian. If that's what she wanted to be it seemed like a good place to start.

"Dara? Nice to meet you. Look I know you probably know better than to take invitations from strange Lasat but a friend and I have a place you can stay. It's not like we're trying to get you alone or anything like that." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "We take in all sorts. All the refugees from the surrounding planets who end up here. Not that I think you're a refugee."

"I kind of am." She gave him a small smile. "And I could use a place to stay. Who is your friend?"

"He should be coming 'round here any time. I was supposed to meet him. We usually come down to the port when new ships come in. Just to see if there's anybody who needs our help."

"So it's like a charity?" she asked.

The Lasat. Yes. That's what he was. She remembered now, and he was carrying a bow-rifle. She had tried firing a similar one once, a long time ago. He frowned and scratched his head. "Yeah I guess you could say that. Ah." He straightened up and Soniee realized how very tall he was. He waved to someone coming up behind her. "Saw! Only one today. Let me introduce, Dara."

She turned and came face to face with the dark skinned human male. "Hello."

From him she sensed a mixture of emotions. There was frustration and sadness and a very deep seeded anger that she was sure could flare at a moment's notice. But there was also a kindness in his smile. When he saw her, he stopped, frozen for a moment before he smiled again and held out his hand to shake hers. "Hey, I'm Saw Gerrera."

She wondered what he had seen in her face that caused him to falter for that split second. She held up her armload of things and shrugged.

"Right, I see. Well, I'm sure Zal already told you. We are in the habit of picking up strays and if you need a place to lay your head while you're visiting our fair city, we can help you out."

"Where've you been?" Zal asked him.

"I went to pay the old man a visit."

"Still determined to keep as far away from the city as he can?"

"Yeah." Saw turned and smiled again at Soniee. "An old hermit I sort of look after. He was a friend of my parents."

"Taking in strays and looking after hermits, I seem to have bumped in to the right people."

"You certainly have. Would you like us to show you to your hotel, Miss?" Saw asked with a mock formal bow.

Zal laughed, "We can help you carry your stuff. Do you have anything else or just this?"

Soniee hugged her things to her chest. "Uh... I can get it. I have a few other things in my freighter but I can come back for anything else later, once I'm settled. I was really planning on just sleeping on the ship."

Saw nodded. "We'll see if we can't find you some place more comfortable. Just follow me."

She did and noticed that as they walked he kept throwing her sideways glances. After a while she had to ask. "I'm sorry but... is something wrong with the way I look?"

"No. I'm sorry. You look... familiar."

"Funny. I don't look like anybody back home." She thought of the sea of blond hair and blue eyes that she had always stood out in.

"Home? Where's that?" He asked.

"Oh." she hadn't really meant to say but now that he asked, she didn't sense that there was any danger in telling him the truth. "Mandalore." She had the helmet after all with her clan _allit_ painted right on the front of it.

"Had some trouble back there lately." He nodded.

"What?" she asked defensively.

"Been trouble all over since our grand Empire took over everything." He said with a bit of a growl. She was a little surprised that he would speak out so blatantly against the new order. Not that she didn't feel the same.

"Y-yes. I wasn't in the capitol during the siege but I heard it was terrible." Soniee hadn't been physically in Sundari when it burned but she had felt it. She had been there in the Force, fighting in her own way.

Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "I know who it is you remind me of. That representative, the one who was aways in the news a while back with Senator Bonteri." Actually he had been thinking she reminded him of someone else, of Auntie Mel, but surely that was only because he'd just been talking to Uncle Brem and it had brought back the memory.

"Wh-Who?" she asked a little shakily not meeting his gaze.

"You didn't hear about her? There was this representative from Mandalore. She was friends with the Onderonian senator. There was even a rumor that she disappeared to go and have his baby." He laughed.

Soniee attempted a laugh of her own but to her own ears it sounded more like a croak.

"On the rebound. Tryin' to get over your sister." Zal guffawed.

But Saw was instantly serious. "Don't talk about her like that!"

"Sorry. That was in bad taste." The big Lasat shrugged, ashamedly.

"Sister." Soniee whispered almost to herself. She hadn't thought about it but the name Gerrera had sounded familiar when he first said it. This was Steela Gerrera's brother, who Lux had told her about.

Saw must have heard her mumbling. "What was that?" he asked.

"Oh I was just... I'm not much into politics."

He glanced at the senate symbol painted in red on her shoulder plate and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... Alright, Dara. It's just up this way a bit." He used the name she had given him but she was sure he knew exactly who she really was.

Soniee hurried to follow through the busy street and she stumbled a bit when her foot hit a stone. It never would have happened a few months ago. She'd always been able to walk confidently, without thinking, backward or forward. But since the baby... maybe the Force had finally left her when she lost him. She didn't think she was that lucky. The Empire would still be after her if they knew. She had to be careful.

The real effect of the near trip was that when she threw her arm out to catch herself her book flew open and a couple of the loose sheets that were tucked inside floated toward the ground. Saw turned to help her and picked one of them up. She grabbed the rest and stuffed them back in the book but when she grabbed for the sheet in his hand, he looked at her strangely.

"Where did you get these?" he asked.

"I found them." She took the last sheet and placed it carefully back between the pages of the book. "Its part of the reason I'm here actually. To see if I can learn to translate them. They are Onderonian runes, aren't they?"

"Well I didn't get a really good look..." Saw frowned. "Where did you say you found them?" He was thinking of how familiar the handwriting had looked and the signature at the bottom in Basic. It was... it had to be a coincidence or fate.

"I didn't." she answered rather shortly. And then with a sigh because what did it really matter if he knew. "I found them with some things that belonged to... well I believe that they belonged to ...my mother."

"Your mother was from Onderon?" He asked and he gave her that strange look again like he recognized her.

Soniee hugged her book. "That's what I've always been told. I was adopted by Mandalorians, grew up there. But my birth mother's freighter crashed right after I was born. I have no memory of her."

Saw nodded. "Will you let me see that letter again?"

She almost said no, but if he could help her translate them... That is what she had come here for. She took one of the loose sheets out of the book and handed it to him.

He glanced over it quickly. The penmanship was familiar and so was the name signed at the bottom but he didn't let on. "It's Onderonian, alright, but it beats me what it says," he lied smoothly handing it back. "We'll find somebody who can help you out with it though."

She looked a little disappointed when he said he didn't understand but brightened right away when he offered to find her help. "Thank you, Saw. I really appreciate it. It would be wonderful to finally learn something about her."

"Saw?" The Lasat called him over.

"Excuse me a minute." Saw left the girl and went. "Zalyanov?"

"What are you doin' telling her you can't read it?"

"That letter she has was written by the old man. She says it belonged to her mother."

Zal did a double take at the girl and back at his friend. "You think she could be his kid?"

"When I first saw her she reminded me of Aunt Mel. I thought it might be just because I'd been thinking about her after visiting Brem but now I don't know. His wife took off what almost 20 years ago?"

"She'd be about the right age then." The lasat frowned looking at her as if trying to see a resemblance to the old hermit. "That doesn't explain why you don't want to teach her to read those letters."

"Not the kind of thing you just spring on somebody." The truth was Saw wasn't exactly sure why he had told her he couldn't read them. But if translating the book was all she was here for that meant she might leave as soon as the job was done. For whatever reason he didn't want her to go quite so soon. Then again, maybe he was just trying to protect Uncle Brem from the hurt of all the memories that would be brought up by the girl's arrival.


	2. you need a teacher

playing around with some characters that were created for a story that takes place between Melaana's and Soniee's. you get a little taste of that with some of the dialogue. and if you can guess who their Momma is then... 10 points to Hufflepuff!

* * *

"Now where are you taking me?" Soniee asked with a smile as her new friend led her down the neat grid of the streets of Iziz. They took so many turns left and right however she didn't know whether she'd be able to find her way back to the tunnel entrance or the space port.

Saw slowed a bit, remembering that his longer stride often left shorter pedestrians in his dust. "There were two things you said you were searching for in our fine city. One was a place to stay."

"And you took care of that." She interrupted him. "Thank you. I really appreciate it..."

"The other thing." He interrupted her back. "Was an introduction to someone who could teach you the old runes."

"True. Trying to complete all your obligations to me as quickly as possible so you can be done with me?" She asked half teasing. Soniee couldn't explain the instant camaraderie she'd felt with this complete stranger. Perhaps it was just his natural charisma. She'd seen the way everyone down in the tunnels had looked to him as leader.

"Not at all." He stopped walking and considered her question. "Just trying to gain your trust, I suppose, so if you need anything else you'll know who you can come to."

It wasn't exactly an answer to her question. She still wondered why he wanted to gain her trust after they had just met but she just nodded. "So... Where are you taking me?"

"It used to be my parent's house actually. I guess it belongs to me now. I'm letting some friends stay there. Well, Mrs. Blackwell was a friend of my parents."

"Your parents must have been very friendly people." Soniee observed.

"What?" Saw asked.

She smiled. "You said earlier that the er hermit you went to visit? was a friend of your parents. And now this Mrs. Blackwell?"

A grin spread over his face. "I guess they were very friendly people."

"And they passed that trait on to you."

She'd actually left him speechless for a moment. He nodded humbly and then turned to face a yard that contained a bellows and anvil, a smithy. The building behind he yard had two large doors that were swung open to reveal a sort of workshop with tables and benches and tools for working with metal and wood arranged neatly hanging on the walls. A young boy was sitting at one of the tables working very intently at some project.

"Are we stopping here?" Soniee asked looking back and forth between the yard and the man beside her.

Saw blinked and then looked back at her. "Oh yeah. This is the place. This was my dad's shop. Kind of weird to see somebody else making use of it. Come on." He stepped forward and she followed him. "Hey, Cornel. Is your mom around?"

The boy who Soniee was sure Saw was addressing didn't look up from his work. In fact he began humming to himself as if he was deliberately trying to ignore them. His hands worked skillfully and she realized that he was building some kind of miniature boat.

"Uh... Cornel. It is Cornel isn't it?" Saw shrugged and looked apologetically at Soniee. "Blackwells have a bunch of boys. I can't always tell them apart."

Soniee said gently to the boy. "That's a beautiful ship. I don't know much about sailing. There's not a whole lot of water where I come from. I do know a thing or two about space craft however and I bet your boat there would positively fly over the waves."

The boy still didn't look at her but he smiled.

"Must be Cornel." Saw was saying. "He's the one that doesn't say much."

"I don't much like talking when I'm busy tinkering with something either." She gave Saw a sidelong glare.

"What?" Saw frowned and tried asking again. "Cornel, is your mom at home?"

The boy shrugged his nearer shoulder to cover his ear as if to block out Saw's voice and kept working.

Just then Soniee heard a muffled scuffling and squeal and noticed a door from the workshop that must have led into the adjoining house. The door burst open and a small girl came rushing out laughing with delight at her escape.

Saw grabbed her and swung her up into his arms before she could get out to the street. "Hey there, Lana. Where are you off to?"

"Uncle Saw!" She noticed who had captured her and hugged him tight around the neck.

Behind her from the house rushed a very haggard looking young man with honey colored hair. "Lana, you can't run off like that! This isn't like home where everybody knows you and will help you find your way back to the Hold. You could get lost." He sighed and nodded seriously at his sister's rescuer. "Thank you, Saw. I don't know what I would have done if she'd..." The young man seemed to suddenly be struck dumb. He stared at Soniee and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Hello?" She said awkwardly.

Saw made the introduction. "Dara, this is Kason Blackwell, oldest of Captain Jamos's crew. Kason, Dara."

"It's nice to meet you, Kason." Soniee smiled.

The young man, maybe sixteen? she guessed, opened his mouth but it took a few seconds for any sound to emerge. "It's... nice to meet you, too."

The little girl put her small hands on both sides of Saw's face and looked right into his eyes to demand his attention. "Why'd you come?"

"I'm lookin' for your momma, Little One." He touched the tip of her nose with his own making her giggle.

"Mom's not here." Kason spoke up. "She left me in charge." He glanced at Soniee again and blushed. "It's a bit of a mad house, but if you want to come in..." He invited.

Soniee glanced back at Saw and he nodded, gesturing toward the door, then she looked back at Kason. "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome." He went a deeper shade of red before he turned away and led them into the house. As soon as they crossed the threshold, another voice called out and a boy smaller than Cornel rushed into their path. "Kase! Emoth won't let me use the holo!"

"I'm doing something with it! Just hold on! It'll be better when I'm finished!" Still another voice argued.

"Emoth, give him the holo!" Kason called. "You're supposed to be helping me keep an eye on Lana anyway."

The fourth Blackwell boy, older than Cornel but younger than Kason, was draped across a chair, holding a holo tablet in his hands. He had longish black hair that he pushed out of his eyes as he looked up at the newcomers only to ignore them and focus back on the tablet. "Mom put you in charge. I assumed you had it handled."

The little girl squirmed out of Saw's arms and crawled up onto Emoth's chest. He hardly seemed to notice and just readjusted his arms so he could keep working on the tablet.

"Kase!" The youngest boy complained louder. "I wanna use it now!" He reached and tried to swipe the tablet.

Emoth pulled it away and gave him a dirty look. "I'm almost done! Why don't you go use the one dad left?"

"Power cell's dead. 'Sides it doesn't have the game I want on it."

"Just give it to him." Kason plucked the tablet out of one brother's hand and gave it to the other. The younger one ran off with it happily.

"Hey!" Emeth yelled hoping up from the chair while the little girl, Lana, slid to the floor with a plop.

Suddenly there was a loud whistle and Soniee turned to see that it had come from Saw. All of the Blackwells, even the little boy who had escaped with the tablet and Cornel who had wandered in to see what the fuss was about, stopped dead. "We're looking for your mom. Does anybody know where she went?"

"Riding on Star."

Soniee spun around. It was the first time she had heard Cornel's voice and he smiled shyly at her after he said it.

Saw looked around at the others. "Just out for a ride?"

"I think she was headed for that old burnt out place by the river." Emoth supplied.

Kason nodded. "That's right. She said something about it being an anniversary."

"Oh!" Saw said as if he had just remembered. He glanced at Soniee questioningly.

She shrugged. Was she supposed to know about some obscure Onderonian holiday? Today was her lifeday but she wasn't about to tell these almost perfect strangers something personal like that.

"I didn't realize that was today." Saw finished quietly.

Emoth slumped back down into the chair. "Wish I could be up north sailing with dad."

"I miss Daddy too." Lana crawled back up in her brother's lap.

Soniee didn't really mean to pry but her curiosity got the better of her. "Are your parents... separated?" She didn't want to use the word divorced but it was what she was thinking. She was wondering herself if Korkie had said the words yet that would free him from their marriage vows. It wasn't like they had all these kids to stay together for. Soniee had failed to save their one chance at that.

Emoth let out a snort. "Only by kilometers."

Kason was smiling too and then the other boys started laughing.

Even Saw grinned. "If you could see the Captain and Mrs. Blackwell together you'd know why that's so funny."

"They love each other so much it's disgusting." The littlest boy laughed. Soniee hadn't caught his name yet.

"Then why are they apart?" She asked. "Why is she here with all of you and your father..."

"Mom was originally from here, from Iziz," Emoth began the story.

"Yeah," Kason picked up the tale. She was married to..." He looked around at his baby sister and thought better of his adjectives. "Somebody else."

"He was awful to her. So was his mom," Emoth added.

"So when mom was finally free of them and went up north and met our dad, she was really cautious. Didn't want to make the same mistakes. Wanted to make sure he was..." Kason looked dreamily into her eyes and Soniee almost blushed. "The one."

"They've been married how long?" Saw asked.

"Seventeen years." Kason piped right up. "They said the words the same night my cousin Thias was born during the Salt and Light festival. Uncle Marlon tells us the story every year."

"Not this year because we didn't get to be there. We had to be down here where they don't even know what the salt gods are." Emoth pouted.

Soniee glanced at Saw but he didn't seem to know what or who the salt gods were either.

"Anyway." Saw attempted to bring the conversation back to why they had come. "This is Dara, everybody. Dara, you've already met Kason, Lana and Cornel. I assume you guessed that the charming rogue over there is Emoth and the tablet thief is Arkon." They all nodded and/or waved and smiled. When their names were announced. "Dara wants to learn to read the old runes. I figured since your mom taught all of you..."

"Momma's still trying to teach Lana." The one called Arkon grinned.

"Well there you go." Saw patted Soniee's shoulder. "You'll have somebody to learn with."

"I know my letters!" Lana announced and then she began to sing a little song not unlike the one Soniee had learned when she was that age to memorize the _Mando'a_ characters.

Soniee waited until the little girl had finished and then threw up her hands in mock exasperation. "You're lightyears ahead of me, then."

Lana grinned proudly.


	3. banner over me

There aren't many left of the old crew who were there and remember what happened on this day 20 years ago. Those who remember still mourn.

* * *

Shara pulled back on the dalgos's reigns and then slid to the ground. It was hard to believe that this was the place where they had all gathered to celebrate Melaana's 18th life day so many years ago. She began to tether Star so she could go and show her respect at the charred shell that was all that remained of the Kira estate, when her comm chimed.

She smiled and said, "Hello, Love," into the audio only connection.

"I'm sorry I can't see your beautiful face." Her husband crooned. "We're already on the sea and it's messing with the holo projection."

"You're not headed into a storm, are you?" Shara worried.

"Our young Beast Master assures me that the Brylks are promising clear skies and smooth sailing ahead."

"How's Cade handling the position?"

"He's doing alright. Misses the other half of double trouble. You sure that I couldn't have brought Emoth along on the voyage. He's shaping up to be a marvelous comm officer. He might have been able to figure out how to get the holo projector to work."

"Jamos, we talked about this." Shara sighed. As much as she loved her children, and appreciated that she had an attentive husband to share the responsibility, parenting them was hard work. "You would have never been able to keep him on task with his studies, especially not with his cousin on board."

"Of course you're right, Dear." She could hear the smile in his voice and she would love to kiss that smile right off his handsome face.

"How are my other progeny? Kason stepping up to the helm? My baby girl as sweet as ever? Ark and Corns fitting in alright?" There was worry coloring the words when he mentioned the final name.

Shara was happy to inform him, "Cornel has really taken to Geb's carpentry workshop! I'm not sure how he learned it but he's been using the tools to build little boats. I guess he must have been paying attention to the ships in the harbor at the Hold because he's really trying to recreate actual designs."

"We have a shipwright in the family!" He cried full of emotion. "I'll talk to House Harkon they have an accomplished builder he could apprentice with…"

"Jamos, he's only ten. And I'm not quite ready to send him away…" she was happy that they had found something that their middle son excelled at, a way for him to express himself and perhaps support himself one day, but that was way off in the future.

"I know," Captain Blackwell sighed. "I'm just… relieved."

"So am I. You should see him. Kase got a holo of him working and showing off one of his projects. I'll send it to you when you're able to receive it."

"Tell my boy I'm proud of him. Or can I tell him myself? Is he close enough for you to hand him the comm?"

"I'll tell him when I get back into the city. Kason is watching the rest of them for me so I could ride out to see the old Kira place. Today is…" she faltered.

"Oh Shar, I'm sorry. I forgot."

"Twenty years since Melaana flew off…" The memory still felt so fresh and raw. Maybe it was just being in this place, so changed yet so familiar. It hurt but at the same time if they hadn't lost her, how long would it have taken for Shara to realize that she couldn't stay with Sanjay. Would she ever have gone North and met Jamos? She wouldn't trade her life now with her husband and children for anything.

"Sweetheart, I wish I could be there with you." Her husband said softly.

Salt gods, she loved him! "I know. I miss you."

"Hey Shar," his voice brightened the way it always did when he tried to get her to smile. "We'll see each other soon, as soon as we can get this catch in. Take care of my babies and Saw and Bremon and all the refugees I'm sure you've adopted."

She laughed through her tears. "I don't have you or your brother or my niece and nephews or my Brylks here to care for so I had to find someone to add to our own five children."

"I love you, Shara."

"I love you." And then she added the traditional send off that Northern wives had been telling their husbands for centuries. "Sail in the light of the salt gods and may they guide you safely home."

The comm ended and Shara tucked the device back into the pocket of her skirt. It amused her how very northern she had become in the last twenty years. The people of Onderon's Northern Sea region had to be tough to endure the cold winters and the storms. And yet for Shara it had been a sanctuary and the place where her dreams of love and family had come true. It seemed as if the salt gods who had led the ancient mariners to the islands where they had settled and to the massive sea beasts, the Brylks, whom they worked with much as the beast riders of the south had partnered with their fambass and dalgos and rupings, had also led her home.

The dalgos were the one thing she had really missed when she escaped from Iziz and the House of Rash. She patted Star affectionately. This particular mare, she had been pleased to discover, was a descendant of her own beloved Sophia. Yet another incidence that would have never been possible without Melaana's interference. It was Mel who spoke up for Shara to be allowed to make sure that Sophia made it to her first stud when she came in season. Shara remembered how worried she'd been that her pet, no her non-sentient best friend, would never know the joys of motherhood.

Mel understood. She'd only just discovered that she was expecting herself at the time. She'd been so excited to have Bremon Kira's child even though there had always been the prophecy hanging over Bremon's head, the prophecy that he would be the father of a child who possessed some sort of power.

It was that prophecy that had made Bremon's Uncle Nadd mad with the desire to use the child for whatever sorcery they never discovered. Melaana had escaped Uncle Nadd only to die in an horrific crash far away in Mandalore space.

Shara had long held the morbid curiosity, wondering whether the baby came first or the crash. Did she get to hold her child? Was it a girl like she'd always suspected, hoped for. Shara supposed it didn't really matter now, twenty years after the fact. It wasn't like knowing could bring either of them back.

She picked through the area that had once been Lady Kira's garden. Shara and Melaana had sat right here and planned out what they would plant and how they would arrange it all to bring it back to its former glory. Even now after lying untended for so long and after the fires that had destroyed the house and the jungle all around, she could see where early spring salad greens and legumes were beginning to push through the soil.

And over there a rose! Marvelous plants. They could be cut down to the ground and come back even fuller and stronger and more beautiful than before. That was the reason House Bonteri had chosen the rose as the sigil for their banner. A lavender field with a silver rose, Dane and Mina had flown it with pride. And their little Lux had surely come back here and shown this thorns during the rebellion.

Little Lux, she smiled. It was hard for her to think of Mina's baby as a grown man now, the same age as Melaana's baby would have been, the same age as her niece Dalla, and all of them just a little younger than Steela who was also taken away much too soon.

There was a movement in the undergrowth and Shara jumped back from where she had been crouched down studying the rose. A black garden snake slithered out to find a sunny spot warm itself. They weren't strictly dangerous to humanoids but if they were protecting their territory their bite could leave a nasty mark. Still the sight of the thing made Shara shudder.

A black serpent just like that was the sigil of House Rash's banner. She hadn't been fond of the red and black flag even for the year that it was the symbol of her own house and then they were everywhere when Sanjay took the throne as the puppet of the separatists. She hadn't been in Iziz to see it for herself but her son Kason had been here, and her niece and nephew… Shara had come south later after Dooku had ordered the assassination of his puppet, after the Rash banners had been torn down and the overenthusiastic rebels had looted and burned the Rash estate.

As much as she missed Melaana, as much as she mourned Bremon's loss, Shara could never quite bring herself to be sorry that the House of Rash had been denied their last chance at having an heir. That line was dead and gone! The red banner with the black serpent would never symbolize their tyranny again.

Shara walked to where she could see the river. Then she closed her eyes and imagined it was the sea. She imagined the light blue banner with the black ship sigil, the symbol of House Blackwell. It was the banner her husband was sailing under right now and it brought her comfort.

With eyes still closed she heard a sound that first made her smile and then she remembered why she was here and why a ruping would also be flying to this out of the way location. Shara looked up and saw poor old, half blind, Frayl circling above her. He looked like the Kira banner come to life, the bronze beast on the deep blue field of the sky.

Bremon skillfully brought the creature to a landing and spared her a glance before he dismounted and focusing his attention on the ruping. "Might have guessed I'd find you here too," he mumbled.

Shara walked towards him. "She was my friend as well."

He nodded.

"Not many of us left who remember."

"Saw came by this morning." He told her. "I don't think the date even crossed his mind."

Shara went to Frayl and held out her hand to let him take her scent. "Saw was just a child when it happened."

"He mentioned her though." Bremon gritted his teeth, walked towards the remains of his former home and sank down to his knees. "He remembered she was special."

"Who could forget Melaana?" Shara nuzzled against the ruping, careful to let Bremon have his space for his own remembrance. She heard him sob when she said the name.

"He's been messing around in those tunnels. He's found the doorway."

She went to him, dropped down to beside him, and wrapped her arms around him. "But there's no way he can get inside. Your uncle Naidon is long gone. He can't hurt anyone else."

With one arm he hugged her back. "Saw knows it's a… Force thing. He asked if Mel had the Force. He wants a Jedi to help him with his lunatic crusade."

"Brem," she tried to get him to see reason. "What are the odds of him finding one? The Empire has destroyed the whole order."

"I - I don't know." He wiped tears from his eyes with his sleeve. "I just don't want anyone else hurt by that old sorcery if I can help it. I tried to save her and…" He still blamed himself after all this time.

"You did what you thought was best and what happened after that was not your fault."

"I know." He said hollowly, as if he didn't really believe it.

"And if you had it to do all over again?" She asked gently.

"I would have gone with her."


	4. new friends

It's hard for Soniee not to be honest with the people she is meeting who are all being so friendly to her but she's got to keep her story straight or risk her own safety and that of the people she left behind.

* * *

There was a knock on the door. It was one of the few locking doors in the underground tunnels where the dormitories were set up for the influx of refugees. Myat had made sure that this room was the one in which the single females who had suffered all sorts of horrors in their own corners of the galaxy could now sleep safely.

The young Twi'lek had probably suffered more than any of them. At 15 she'd been a slave for most of her life. That is until she'd taken the chance to stow away on a freighter and ended up here on Onderon. Mature beyond her years she now looked after women far older than herself. Women like 30 year old Chi'ann Kree who had once been a famous singer in the core worlds. Soniee remembered going to hear one of the Pantoran crooner's concerts on Coruscant. She wouldn't be giving any concerts now. Chi'ann had led the double life of a spy during the war and after passing information about an infamous crime lord had been divested of her greatest talent.

"I tell 'er." Myat explained to Soniee in her thick Ryl accent. "Zat singing may 'ave been 'er livelihood but eet eez not 'er life." She turned and glared at the locked door. "Now 'oo could zat be?"

Myat had taken Soniee under her protection just like all the others and after a good night's sleep in the ladies' dorm room she was just beginning to introduce herself and the current occupants.

Chi'ann gestured to herself and then to the door with a questioning tilt to of her head as if asking the younger girl if she should see to it. Myat glanced around the room to make sure all her charges were decent before she nodded. "Ka. Zee what zay want, eef you please."

"And who is the girl asleep over on that bunk?" Soniee asked. "I think she was asleep yesterday when I arrived as well."

"Oh zat one." Myat smiled. "Zhe eez not a refugee. Werda Flint eez from Iziz. Beeg family. Came to zee tunnels to hide from zem before zee rest of us arrived. Zhe knows zee tunnels better zen Gerrera I zink."

"Werda's a Mando'a name." Soniee was amazed. "It means shadow."

A sleepy voice came from the far bunk. "Parents ran out of good old Onderon names. Had to branch out." Werda grinned sitting up and stretching. "Speaking of names, yours is Dara, right?"

"That's right." Soniee nodded. She hadn't quite gotten used to the moniker yet.

"Thought so." Werda cocked her head towards the door. "The Lasat there's been tryin' to get your attention for about five standard minutes."

Soniee's gaze jerked up and she saw Zal waving at her from the half opened door. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't hear." She got up from her bunk and crossed the small room towards him.

"It's alright." Zal smiled shyly. "Don't mind the chance to speak with Miss Kree here."

Chi'ann made a few quick movements with her hands and gave him a nod, hopeful that he understood and would respond favorably.

"Yeah, I'd like to talk some more. Should be free after lunch sometime." He answered eagerly. Then he looked passed both Soniee and Chi'ann towards the stern warden of the ladies. "That is if you think it's okay, Myat?"

The young Twi'lek stood with her arms crossed over her chest and assessed him. "I zink... ka. Zhe be een no danger weez you, Zal."

"Thanks." He beamed but he seemed to have forgotten his original reason for coming.

"You 'ave message for Dara?" Myat reminded him.

"Oh!" He broke his gaze away from Chi'ann. "Yeah, Dara, one of the Blackwell boys is here to take you to see his mom… For your lessons."

"Lessons? Mrs. Blackwell agreed to teach me the runes?" Soniee asked with barely concealed excitement.

"Yeah. That's right," said Zal.

Myat frowned. "You know zis Blackwell boy? You trust 'im?"

Soniee nodded. "Saw introduced us yesterday. I wonder if I should bring the journal now or…" She decided against it. "Won't learn enough in the first lesson to make it worth while anyway."

Werda jumped up and threaded her arm through Soniee's. "I'll walk her out. Been awhile since I've seen the princeling."

"Princeling?" Soniee asked while the other girl led her expertly past Zal and Chi'ann and up to the street level.

"His mom was married to a king." Werda shrugged.

"A king?" Soniee goggled. "They told me she'd been married before but I had no idea."

"Yeah," the other girl nodded solemnly. "King didn't have any kids tried to tell everybody Kase was his stepson. Which I guess he sort of was. Anyway, the princeling wasn't having any of that. He'd heard too many stories about how his mom was treated by the sleemo. King got mad and Kase had to be rescued from the palace."

"That's amazing! What a story." She still had the look of awe on her face when they reached Kason Blackwell who was standing nervously pacing with the reins of one of Onderon's strange beasts held tight in his hand.

"Hey, Princeling." Werda greeted him.

The young man only had eyes for Soniee. He grinned. "Hey."

"It's nice to see you again, Kason." Soniee blushed under the heat of his gaze. "Thanks for asking your mother about the lessons."

"Sure. Although, you know I can read the runes too. So if she's busy with the kids or something, I can help."

"Thank you."

Werda grumbled. "Well, I'll just leave you to your princess then."

By the time the other two had turned to ask what she meant by that, the shadow girl had already disappeared again into the tunnels. They stood silent for a moment and then both started to speak at once. "I brought…" "Is that…" "Oh I'm sorry." "No, you go ahead."

Kason took a breath and then said. "This is Star. She's our Dalgos."

"Oh." Soniee nodded still hanging back a little hesitantly. "Your mother went out riding on her yesterday."

"That's right." He smiled. "I brought her so that we could ride her back to the house."

Her wide eyes must have betrayed her nerves. "Oh? I've never… I mean speeder bikes but never anything… alive."

"It's as easy as anything and I'll be right with you." He held out his hand.

"A- alright." She took a slow step forward and allowed him to help her mount.

"There you go," he encouraged gently once she was up in the saddle.

"Well, look what we have here!" Came a familiar voice that made the creature nod it's head and Soniee go pale and grasp the saddle with both hands.

Saw Gerrera patted Kason's shoulder. "We'll turn Dara into a real beast rider yet."

"That we will." Kason grinned up at her.

But Soniee was trembling and quite ready to be done with the ordeal.

"I thought you said your mom was from Onderon." Saw laughed.

Soniee spoke through clenched teeth, trying to keep them from chattering. "Well clearly, affinity with animals is not a genetic trait."

He burst out laughing even harder.

"It's not funny!" She insisted.

"Of course it is. You're white as a sheet."

"So glad you find my sheer terror amusing." But anger replaced her fear even as Kason climbed up onto the beast's back behind her.

"Lay off, Saw. It's her first time. She'll get used to it." The young man's arms went around her to take up the reins.

"I'm sure she will." Saw sighed. "Have a good lesson."

Kason urged the Dalgos forward and Soniee couldn't help a little cry of alarm at the sudden motion. Soon however she had settled a little into the rhythm of the creature's gait and they turned a corner and left the laughter behind.

"That man can be so infuriating," she said half to distract from the way Kason was holding her. She supposed he only meant to make her feel secure on her first ride but she sensed that he was also enjoying the sensation of being this close to her.

"Says you and half the city." He mused.

"Really?" That surprised her. "But he's doing so much good for all those people."

She felt him shrug behind her. "A lot of Onderonians think those people should just be sent away back where they came from."

"I suppose they think I should go back where I came from as well."

"Well no." Kason hurried to reassure her. "You said your mom was from here?"

"Yeah. I think so. It's what I've always been told."

Before he could stop himself he said. "You look like… some of the girls around here."

Soniee frowned. Saw had also said she looked familiar. He'd said she looked like the Representative from Mandalore who knew Lux Bonteri. She couldn't let that get around. She sought for another avenue of discussion. "Werda said you were once rescued from the palace. Sounds exciting."

"Well I don't know about all that." She could hear the pride in his voice as he began to tell her the story and she could also sense how very young he was. She'd been told he was only fifteen though he seemed intent on proving to her that their age difference wouldn't be an obstacle to some sort of relationship. She wondered how she'd tell him that there were other far more insurmountable obstacles, like the fact that she was married. If she was still married, if Korkie hadn't…

And then he was pulling on the reins bringing them to a halt in front of the little house and workshop that she had visited the day before. There was a woman standing out front with honey colored hair like Kason's with just a few strands of silver at her temples. She was wearing a long skirt and tunic and had her hands resting on her hips. Her expression was stern but kind and Soniee liked her immediately, even when she spoke rather sharply to her eldest son who Soniee could see, once he had dismounted, was several inches taller than she was. "So this is my new student?"

"Aye, Momma. This is Dara." He gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek and then turned to help Soniee down from the animal's back.

"Hello, Mrs. Blackwell. Thank you so much for agreeing to…" Soniee began but the look on the woman's face had changed. She looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Saw had looked at her strangely when she had arrived and Kason had also seemed to recognize her from somewhere but this woman standing before her now seemed unsure whether to embrace her like an old friend or burst into tears. After a moment Mrs. Blackwell seemed to shake herself from the memory and she smiled. "Excuse me for my rudeness. You are welcome to call me Shara and it's wonderful to meet you Dara." She took Soniee's hand and gave it a squeeze.

It had been months since Momma Ordo was killed in the explosion and even longer since Soniee had been face to face with the woman who had raised her. She had forgotten what it was like to feel the comforting crush of emotion that was a mother's love. It was exactly how she felt when this woman looked into her eyes.

Then the moment was broken. Shara turned to her son, no nonsense attitude flipped on like a switch, and informed him, "Your cousin Thias is on the comm for you in the bedroom. Don't…" She put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from rushing straight off to get it. "Don't be on too long. You've still got Calculus and you've lost half the morning galloping around Iziz." She turned and winked at Soniee to show that she didn't blame her new pupil a bit.

"Aye, Momma," He answered politely before he ran off to do her bidding.

"Come on, Dara." Mrs. Blackwell welcomed her. "You have studying to do, too."

They entered the house this time through the front door and as they passed the bedroom Soniee heard a snatch of the conversation from Kason's holocomm. "She's here now."

"And she looks like that portrait you saw?"

Shara reached in and pulled the door closed before Soniee could hear anymore.


	5. musings of Saw Gerrera

a little more insight into what Saw's been up to since the rebellion and what he remembers from his childhood.

* * *

Saw wished he could have seen Shara's reaction when Dara first arrived. He had meant to be the one to introduce them. Then when Kason had shown up and put her on that dalgos, well, at the sight of her, the thought had just vanished from his mind.

How much time did a girl need for a first language lesson? He wondered, while he tried to keep his mind on his own work. It wasn't work he wanted to be doing anyway. Saw would have never imagined he would end up the administrator of a relocation center. He should have been planning and carrying out strikes against the Empire, not sitting behind a desk.

He checked the chrono again. And again he reminded himself that it was Shara's reaction he wanted to see, not the girl. Dara, or whatever she was calling herself, was just some girl who had fallen on hard times. She was like any of the other dozens of girls who had come through the Iziz space dock. They all had their stories, their secrets. Dara wasn't any different.

Except that, she was. Even Kason had noticed something about her, and he'd never even met Melaana. He had seen that portrait in the palace when they had both been locked up by the pretender 'King' Rash. The boy had been fixated on the mystery princess. Maybe it helped keep his mind off the war that was raging outside in the streets of Iziz.

Saw hadn't made the connection then, but it made perfect sense now. Sanjay Rash had hung up a picture of his dead sister. Saw hadn't even gotten a good look at it, he'd been too busy trying to free Dendup and get the true king back on the throne. Studying an old picture of Aunt Mel hadn't been on his list of priorities.

But now… he wondered if Dendup had left the picture up when he was reinstated as king. He'd like to go back and see if Dara really did look as much like Aunt Mel as he remembered…

"Hey, Saw." Zal stuck his furry, purple head into the office door and interrupted his train of thought. "Going out to lunch with Miss Kree. You want us to bring you back anything?"

"Nah. I'll go out and get something in a while. Got some stuff to finish up here first." Saw looked down at the flimsiwork, datapads, and infocubes spread over the desk. Could it really be lunch time? He thought he had only just sat down. He couldn't have spent the whole morning daydreaming.

"Alright." Zal waved and then asked, "Are we hitting the docks tonight?"

Distracted, Saw dug around in the pile, though he wasn't really looking for anything specific. "Go on if you want. I'm going over to Shara's, see if Dara needs help finding her way back."

The Lasat grinned. "Taking an interest in the new girl?"

Saw looked up and frowned. "Taking an interest in the mute girl?" he threw back at his friend.

"Point taken." Zal nodded but he was still smiling. "Don't think there's any scheduled landings tonight anyway."

After the Lasat had gone, Saw did honestly try to get to work but it was no use. Zal was right at least in part. He was taking an interest in the new girl and he wasn't going to get any answers about her by sitting here.

He had a passing thought about that journal. She didn't seem to have had it with her when she left with Kason. If that was true, then it was still here. If he could only see what was inside that journal maybe he could understand what had happened to Aunt Mel all those years ago. What was it that made Uncle Brem go mad as a mynock? But then he remembered. The journal, if she hadn't taken it with her, would be in the ladies' dorm and that was locked and guarded by little miss Twi'lek.

Well, that was out. He wouldn't face Myat's wrath for all the credits in the vaults on Mygeeto. She might be young but she had pointy teeth and claws and a reason to distrust men.

No, at the moment, his only likely source of information would be Shara. She had been Aunt Mel's best friend, hadn't she? He'd only been little then, three or four standard years old, but he remembered something… a lifeday party! That was it! It was outside, in front of Uncle Brem's old house in the jungle by the river. Saw remembered playing there a lot when he was a kid. His dad had helped rebuild it.

He remembered the tables set up in the garden, not like a picnic at the Summer Fete but like a real grown-up dinner party. And Aunt Mel had been stressed about getting it just right. He remembered Momma telling her to sit and put her feet up. That's right, she'd been pregnant! Of course, that baby was…

Mina Bonteri was pregnant, too. She and Dane were there and that meant … that Lux Bonteri was born just a few weeks later.

Saw shot up out of his chair and paced around the office. The traitor! Lux knew about the bases they'd set up in the jungle. They'd fought side by side during the rebellion. And then pretty boy Bonteri had gone off to join the Republic Senate. And then the Republic had become the Empire. No one else could have told the Empire. No one else knew, except the Jedi and they were all dead. And so the stormtroopers had come and burned down everything, dalgos barns, ruping paddocks, and the Kira estate, the whole fraking jungle.

He tried to remember it again, as it was, back then, on that day. Shara had been there with her then husband Sanjay Rash. She'd held baby Steela...

Saw growled. He had to get out of this place. Maybe Uncle Brem was right and there was some sort of negative vibe down in these tunnels.

Shara was his best bet. Surely if he had recognized the resemblance, it was obvious to her.

* * *

When Saw arrived at the house he knocked, but in true Blackwell fashion no heard him. He opened the door ready to find the usual organized chaos. The first Blackwell he met was Cornel running around in circles pretending to be a star fighter of some sort, at least that's what Saw gathered from the sound effect he was making as he raced by. Chasing him was Lana with a stuffed toy fish in each hand yelling at him to, "Play Brylks with me, Cornel!"

When he managed to get to the living room, Saw found Arkon and Emoth both staring angrily at holoscreens. Arkon's showed a simple long division problem and Emoth's some higher form of Algebra. Saw attempted a hello and got only scowls in return.

"Alright then." He continued through toward the kitchen but stopped when he heard the ladies speaking.

"What else did they say?" Shara's voice asked, amused.

"Well," and that must have been Dara's voice. Saw wasn't used to hearing that slightly foreign crispness to the words. There was something a little stuffy and high born about it like the Jedi and politicians from Coruscant, but it wasn't unpleasant coming from her. "They said you'd been married before, but that you managed to find love again."

Shara's warm laugh. "That would imply that I'd found love the first time around."

"You didn't love your first husband?" Dara asked.

"I suppose maybe at one time I may have fancied myself in love with him." A sigh. "I think it was more a matter of being flattered that someone like him would want someone like me to be the mother of his children."

"And that didn't happen?"

"No. It's probably pretty obvious looking around here now that it was he who was unable but…" Shara heaved another sigh. "They, he and his mother, I mean, blamed me. His mother had never liked me, never thought I was good enough for her son."

"But. You're a Lady. Surely…"

Shara laughed again. "I wasn't back then. I was a fruit seller, a dalgos rider. We married in secret. I thought it was romantic."

"So you ran away to the North?" Dara asked.

There was a pause and Saw debated making his presence known. He really didn't need to be listening to all of this. But then Shara asked another question and he had to hear the answer. "May I hazard a guess that you're running away from something also?"

Dara didn't deny it but she avoided answering directly. "That's not the only reason I came to Onderon. I wanted to find out about my mother. She was from here."

"Better than my reason for going North." He could hear the smile in Shara's voice but he was a little disappointed that she didn't push for more information. "I chose the North because I knew my mother-in-law hated it."

Dara gave a little chuckle. And Saw chose that moment to spring into the kitchen. For just a moment before she turned away from him embarrassed, he saw her smile. If Aunt Mel's smile had been anything like that, Saw was sure he knew why she had turned Uncle Brem's head.

"So." He looked back and forth between the women pretending that he hadn't interrupted anything. "Is the lesson over?"

But his question went unanswered, because just then Kason breezed past him, grabbed a couple of jogans out of a bowl on the counter and tossed one of them to Dara.

"You finished your Calc?" Shara asked him.

"Aye Momma." He rolled his eyes.

"And your Literature and Astro-physics?"

"Yeah, I finished all of it. Dara, come on. I'll show you a holo of Dad's ship."

She glanced helplessly at Shara and then started to follow, "A-alright."

Shara sighed and shook her head watching them go.

"What do you think of your new student?" Saw asked her.

"I think I'm going to have a time consoling my son when she breaks his heart."

Saw laughed. "He does seem pretty far gone, doesn't he."

"Everyone says he looks like me, but I see an awful lot of Jamos in that smile he gives her." She didn't look at Saw but he was quite sure she knew what he was getting around to.

"Anything else about her?"

Shara steadied herself, hands gripping the counter edge. She must have been holding back the emotion all morning. "You mean the fact that she looks like my best friend rose from the dead and landed on my doorstep? Where did she come from?"

He only answered with a single word. "Mandalore."

"Mandalore." She repeated as If it was inevitable. "You know that's where Dane went to look for her. And she knows her mother was from Onderon? How much more does she know?"

"Not much, I don't think." Saw told her. He wasn't sure if he should tell her about the journal.

"Of course it could just be a coincidence." Shara paced a couple of steps away and then right back to face him. "But I looked into those same eyes just yesterday when I spoke to Brem. I can't tell you how glad I am she got his eyes." She rushed on rambling. "If she looked anymore like Sanjay…" her voice faded and then she began again. "And Kason can see it too. He must have seen a portrait of Mel."

Saw nodded. "Rash had one up in the palace but it wasn't labeled with a name."

"So he doesn't know who she is, just that she's… pretty as a picture."

"Yeah I think that's about right."

Shara was pacing again. "So do we tell Brem he's had a daughter all this time?"

"Not yet." Saw was sure about that much.

She was taken aback by the swiftness and confidence of his reply.

He hurried to explain. "It's just that… She's been through something… something she's hiding. I'm not even sure her name's really Dara. I don't think, I mean it'll all come out eventually, but right now might not be the best time to dump more on top of whatever she's already running from."

Shara nodded thoughtfully. "I got the same impression when I was talking to her." She took a deep breath. "So, we take things slow. We let her ask the questions when she's ready and we don't press her with a lot of our own. She'll tell us why she's here in her own time."

"Sounds like a plan." Saw agreed.

"And I'll have a talk with Kason." She smiled at a memory. "If he's anything like his father, he'll have proposed at least twice already."

Saw grinned and then straightened his face as Dara reentered the kitchen.

"It really is a lovely ship." She was saying with a bit of a 'help me' expression in her wide green eyes.

"I'll take you out on it some time." Kason was right on her heels. "It's not like the dalgos. It's more like… flying. You did say you like flying?"

"I did." She gave Saw an annoyed glare for not stepping in. "I love flying. I'd love to be flying right now."

"You should try riding a ruping some day." Saw suggested. He found the green fire staring back at him entrancing.

"What's a ruping?" she asked.

Kason tried to take back the conversation. "It's another sort of creature we have on Onderon, a reptavian. Why Uncle…"

Both Saw and Shara jumped at once. The bowl of salad she'd been assembling slid toward the edge of the counter and Saw caught it before it was entirely lost on the floor. "Woops!" he said, placing it on the table.

"Kason, would you get the dressings out of the conservator?" Shara asked as if nothing had occurred.

"Sure," the boy complied, a little confused.

"And you'll be staying for lunch, Saw?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Mrs. Blackwell." He took a seat at the table.

"Kase, go tell your brothers and sister to come on and eat."

"Aye Momma." He shrugged in Dara's direction and went to follow orders.

When he had gone, Dara dropped into a chair with an overwhelmed sigh.

Shara reached across and squeezed her hand. "You're his first crush. I am sorry."

Dara shook her head at the apology. "It's sweet, really. I just… Even if I…" A darkness fell over her expression.

Saw and Shara shared a look and Shara spoke softly. "I'll talk to him. He won't bother you if he knows you need your space."

Dara's smile was sad but grateful, "Thank you."


	6. old friends who've just met

title for this one comes from a song Gonzo sings in 'the Muppet Movie' and it really kind of fits Saw and Soniee who should have grown up together but were denied that opportunity. 

This looks familiar, vaguely familiar,

Almost unreal, yet, it's too soon to feel yet.

Close to my soul, and yet so far away.

I'm going to go back there someday. 

Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls.

Is that a song there, and do I belong there?

I've never been there, but I know the way.

I'm going to go back there someday. 

Come and go with me, it's more fun to share,

We'll both be completely at home in midair.

We're flyin', not walkin', on featherless wings.

We can hold onto love like invisible strings. 

There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met.

Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place?

You can just visit, but I plan to stay.

I'm going to go back there someday. 

After lunch when Shara had gone to check the other children's morning lessons, Soniee wandered over to see what Emoth was working on. He had been quiet while they ate and frustrated that he hadn't been able to finish the assignment or get his mother's help with it before the meal. He didn't seem too thrilled now that Soniee was looking over his shoulder.

She was about to apologize and walk away when she recognized something. "Oh, I remember these." She reached past the boy to scroll down on the page and see the rest of the problem. "Yeah. These are tough but I could show you a short cut."

"Mom'll explain it when she gets done with Arkon." He started to turn the holo unit away from her, annoyed.

But Soniee wouldn't let it go. "You like tinkering with things, datapads and holo screens, right?"

"Yeah?" he frowned at her.

"Well," she pulled the problem back around to where they could both see it. "You know how you need to get all your components aligned and plugged into the exact places for the device to work correctly?"

"Yeah?" he repeated grudgingly, a little more interested.

"This part of the problem is like your capacitor." She pointed as she explained. "That's your emitter. Those are your converters and that's the power supply. Now how would you arrange them so that they function properly?" Soniee backed off and let him have full access.

She watched as Emoth's hands flew over the keyboard and a smile broke over his features. He asked once, "So this goes here?" To which she nodded, but she could tell he had the hang of it now. He finished the lesson in record time and pressed the button to submit it for grading.

"Yes!" he grinned as the score appeared on the screen. Then he frowned, "Of course you know what this means?"

"What's that?" she asked.

"You actually use this stuff in real life." The grin returned.

Soniee realized that Shara had come over to join them. "Marvelous job, Emoth! We'll save a copy of that one for your dad to see."

He shrugged. "It all made sense when Dara explained it."

"He's right. It would have taken me hours to explain it." Shara rolled her eyes looking much too young to be the mother of all these children. "You must speak his language."

Soniee could feel herself blushing. "It was nothing really. Just the way I understood it when I learned it at the academy." She bit her lip at the slip and was glad to be saved by Saw.

"Speaking of languages." He smiled coming into the room with little Lana riding on his back. "Aunt Shara, aren't you always saying that the best way to learn spoken Onderonian is through song?"

"Am I always saying that?" she asked.

Kason was not to be left out. "You should sing her something, Momma." He sidled up to Soniee and gestured to a small sofa that would be big enough for the two of them to sit. She noticed Saw grinning at her from across the room and raised an eyebrow at him as she took the seat next to her admirer.

"Well, if I'm going to sing I think we all should." Shara made herself comfortable on the floor rather than taking a chair and Arkon came and curled up beside her. "You too, Emoth." She forestalled her second eldest before he could make a break for his room.

"Awe, Mom." He complained but didn't put up much of a fight before he draped his lanky frame over another chair.

"Cornel, come on. Sit over here by Momma."

He wondered around for a bit and then did as she requested sitting at her side opposite Arkon.

Saw also took a chair and swung Lana around from his back to sit on his lap.

"So," Shara smiled around at them all. "Who will go first so our guest can hear what our language is supposed to sound like?"

To Soniee's surprise it was Cornel who piped up with no second bidding. His voice was high and sweet and pure. They explained to her after he'd finished that the translation was something about the colors of the sea and the sky and how they let the sailors know what the conditions would be for their voyage.

"Thank you, Cornel. That was beautiful." Soniee told him and the boy smiled without looking at her.

Shara shook her head proudly. "Perfect pitch. We have no idea where he gets it from."

"I'm next!" Arkon said with a wicked grin and then he burst into a song that was so punctuated with his own giggles and groans from everyone one else that Soniee would have been hard put to make out the lyrics even if she did know the language.

The laughter was infectious though, and when he was finished Saw reached down and ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. "Thanks, Arks, for that rendition of the sounds of the bunkroom. I'm sure 'snore' and 'fart' were just the words Dara was hoping to learn."

Shara rolled her eyes, seemingly used to the antics of a houseful of boys. "Why don't you give us the next one Saw?"

"Alright, if Lana will help me." He mentioned the title to the little girl and she nodded. This song had a bit of a different feel to it and she was told later that was because it was a beast rider's lullaby rather than a northern sea shanty. It was a love song that could be sung to a child or a friend or a romantic partner and Soniee thought it was adorable the way little Lana smiled up at her 'uncle' while they sang the words together. She was enchanted.

Saw gave her a wink.

And then almost before the last note had rung out Kason spoke up, "I know one." It was unmistakably a love song directed at herself and Soniee wondered how he dared to express such a thing in front of his family. She was rather glad now that she was sitting next to him so that she didn't have to catch his gaze. She knew she was blushing and sensed him anxiously awaiting her response when he finished.

"That was very nice." She said trying not to encourage him further.

"I hoped you'd like it." He said softly.

Emoth saved them both more embarrassment. "Alright. My turn." His voice was low and serious as he launched into another sea shanty. This one seemed to be a familiar tune to everyone present other than Soniee herself. Cornel clapped out the rhythm and hummed along. Saw bounced Lana on his knee in time and even Shara smiled as she nodded her head. Then suddenly her expression changed her eyes widened and she threw a look over to Saw who had covered Lana's ears with both his hands.

"Emoth Oron Blackwell!" Shara exclaimed.

Her second eldest son stared back at her with an almost comic innocence. "What Momma? I thought you liked 'The Captain's Lady'. Isn't that the song Dad's crew always sings for you when you come on board the Polaris?"

"Not that version of it!"

Everyone but Soniee was laughing. It wasn't the bawdy song that had bothered her. It seemed to be a family joke and she couldn't understand the Onderonian lyrics anyway. No, it was something Shara had said. Her hand went to her stomach for a split second before she drew it away again self consciously.

She looked around noticing that everyone had gone quiet. "I'm sorry. I…"

"Are you alright?" Kason asked.

Soniee shook herself and attempted a smile. "Yes of course. I…" She had to ask. "His middle name is Oron? I always liked that name. Thought I had made it up. I guess I must have heard it somewhere before."

Saw and Shara shared a concerned glance before he spoke for both of them. "Yeah, it's a pretty popular name around here. If your mom was from Onderon then you probably have at least one or two Orons in your family."

"My family…" Soniee frowned thoughtfully. There was an Oron in her family but she couldn't tell them about that.

Shara continued, whether trying to draw out more information or just give Soniee time to collect herself, she didn't know. "Oron Kira was a legendary figure, hero of the beast riders."

"You should sing her the ballad, Momma." Kason's hand slowly made its way over to give Soniee's a squeeze.

She gave him a polite smile and drew her hand away again.

"I suppose it is my turn." Shara brought attention back to herself. And then she began the ballad of Oron Kira.

Every time the name was mentioned Soniee felt a pang remembering the son she had carried inside her but had never set eyes on. Then Kason whispered to her, "Would you like me to translate?"

She nodded, glad of the distraction from her memories. And so he told her about the great beast rider who won many battles against the evil Naddists and married the princess Galia for love but succeeded in doing so to unite the Houses of Onderon.

Somewhere around the second verse Lana scuttled off Saw's lap and crawled into Shara's but it was too much for Soniee to see the mother and child cuddled together. She found her gaze returning to Saw and their eyes locked. She couldn't say how long they stared at each other. How many verses were there in the song?

When it was over, so was the spell. Soniee blinked and looked down and saw that Kason had once again caught her hand in his. She dislodged it quietly and said a bit shakily to Shara, "That was beautiful."

Saw cleared his throat. "Well, that's all of us, unless Dara'd like to give us something in Mandalorian." He had a bit of a sly smirk on his face as if he was sure she'd decline. Maybe he thought she couldn't sing at all.

Soniee took it as a challenge. She may not be _Mando'ad_ by blood but she as sure as haran was as proud of her adoptive culture as anyone.

"The language is called _Mando'a_ actually." She smiled around at the Blackwells avoiding looking straight ahead at Saw. "We don't have a lot of songs, more like chanting mostly: war chants, victory chants, funeral chants… drinking chants."

"Every planet's got those…" Saw began but Soniee spoke over him.

"We do have a few folk songs, though," and then she launched into one of them. Her hand kept time on her knee alternating between a flat palm and a fist. 

Mhi b'verda Mandalore,

Mhi be a'den aru'e,

Mhi b'verda Mandalore,

Par cyare buir. 

Mhi pirur Mandalore,

Gaa'taylir b'vode,

Mhi pirur Mandalore.

Par cyare buir. 

The Concordian rolled 'R' was more comfortable in her mouth than the Onderonian flipped consonant that they had all been modeling for her in their songs. It felt like home. She closed her eyes as she continued on to the bridge and remembered Momma teaching her the tune. 

Akaanir Jetii adenn,

Akaanir darjetii balyc,

Mhi be a'den aru'e,

Par cyare buir. 

Mhi b'verda Mandalore,

Mhi be a'den aru'e,

Mhi b'verda Mandalore,

Par cyare buir. 

The silence stretched after she sang the last note. That is until Kason thought it necessary to clap for her. First Saw and then Shara and then even the little ones joined in.

Soniee rolled her eyes. "Oh please stop. It wasn't that good."

Then Arkon looked up at her mesmerized. "But what does it mean."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "It means I'm a warrior," She growled and reached down playfully to tickle him. "I give my enemies no mercy!" Then she sat back smiling and finished more softly, "For the love of my father."

Shara threw a glance over at Saw and then asked, "Did you know your father?"

Soniee shook her head. "No. And the woman who adopted me never married. We had her father, my _Ba'buir_. He taught me to shoot." She was wistful, remembering for a moment and then she smiled. "Of course in _Mando'a_ we don't always distinguish gender, so I could just as likely be singing for the love of my mother."

* * *

Later while Saw was walking her back to the tunnel entrance, he brought it up again. "You sing really well."

Soniee was glad that he had asked to show her the way back. She wasn't in a hurry to ride the dalgos again especially not with Kason. Shara had promised her once again as Soniee was leaving that she would have a talk with her son.

Even now, though, she wasn't quite sure how to field complements from the man strolling beside her. "You seemed surprised."

"No. Not really surprised." He chuckled and shrugged. "Just didn't expect you to burst out with something like that in front of people you hardly knew. Ah, but then, you are a warrior." Saw grinned.

"You don't believe that either do you?" she asked, amused.

"Raised Mandalorian, you might have picked up a few things. You said your Grandfather taught you to shoot? Any good at it?"

"He said I was a natural and I was always top of my class…" but that got too close to talking about the academy. "At targets though." She added. "Never liked hunting or getting caught in an honest fight."

Saw also appeared to be lost in a memory. "I get what you mean about organics. It wasn't so bad against droids."

She peered over at him curiously.

"During the rebellion, when we were fighting the Separatists." He explained. "Back then we were fighting machines to protect the sentients. Now the Empire sends…" He gestured toward a couple of patrolling storm troopers.

"Are they still clones under that armor?" Soniee wondered aloud.

The question caught him by surprise. "Whether they are or not, they're still men."

"Oh, I know." She hurried on. "I mean I - I've heard. It's just that… they wouldn't have any choice in the matter. Never seemed fair."

He nodded, taking her meaning. "It is easier to fight against an opponent who chose to be your enemy rather than one who was bred to follow orders."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Doesn't make much difference when they're pointing a blaster at you."

"No." Soniee agreed. "I suppose, you're right."

A noise from a side street caught both of their attention at the same moment.

"Hold it right there, thief!" came the shout muffled through a helmet's speaker.

Saw's eyes pleaded with her to stay put while he ran off toward the voice but she was right behind him.

At the end of the alley a trooper was menacing a much smaller being, a child with his tunic full of what must have been stolen melons.

"Hey! What's goin' on here?" Saw asked as he approached cautiously.

The trooper glanced back for a mere second. "It's none of your concern. Leave the area, citizen." No, he didn't sound like any of the clones Soniee had ever heard, even with the variations that came from who they were trained by and where they were predominantly stationed. He sounded very young.

"Come on." Saw attempted to reason with him, still advancing slowly. "He's just a kid, probably starving. Why don't you let him go?"

"I can't do that. He's a thief. Needs to be punished." But the trooper didn't sound very sure of himself.

"We'll pay for the fruit." Soniee stepped forward.

Saw whispered back to her, "Dara, let me handle it."

Even with the helmet covering his facial expression, the trooper's whole body spoke of indecision. And then the kid took advantage of the distraction. He took one of the melons from the front of his tunic and lobbed it as hard as he could at the trooper's head. It didn't hurt him badly, just knocked the helmet a bit off kilter. It gave the kid a chance to scurry up a drain pipe and over the wall with the remainder of his prize.

Then everything seemed to happen very fast. The young trooper aimed vaguely at the wall where the thief had disappeared and fired his blaster. Soniee sensed the danger a moment before the second trooper rounded the corner to see what was going on. She knew the new arrival wasn't going to stand around asking questions. Saw was in his line of fire and she did what she knew she had to do to save her friend's life. She had seen the blaster that Saw kept in his belt. She didn't even think as she drew the weapon pointed it at the second trooper and fired.

She felt him die and power surged within her. She hadn't felt power like that since she had choked Gar Saxon with the Force in the Palace in Sundari. She turned toward the young trooper at the other end of the alley and fired again.

"Nice shot, Steela." Saw patted her on the back in gratitude. He didn't seem to realize that he had called her by his sister's name in the heat of the moment. "Time to leave." He took the weapon from her trembling hand and stuffed it back into his belt. "Dara! Come on! Now!"

He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the alley so they could mingle with the shopping crowd in the marketplace. Then he had to continue to shunt her along.

Her mind was still back with the white armored soldiers. "I killed them." She breathed, barely above a whisper.

Saw put an arm around her to keep her moving. "And saved my life. I won't be doubting your warrior status again."

Soniee pulled away from him, blinked a few times, and shook her head to clear it.

"At least they won't be going back and telling tales." Saw was looking around the marketplace now. There was a flurry of activity around the entrance to the alley they had come from but they seemed to have gotten cleanly away before either of them could be connected to the incident. "And luckily no surveillance down that way."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Soniee asked.

"Well, yeah, unless you wanted your picture up all over the city."

She shuddered. "No. No, I don't want that."

Saw grabbed her shoulders almost roughly as he looked, concerned, into her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"No, of course not. What did you expect?" She glared at him.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Maybe he was still high on the exhilaration of the danger or maybe he knew by her response that she was recovering from the same. "I'm going to buy you a drink." It wasn't an invitation or an order, just a brash statement of fact.

"This is hardly the time…" she tried to tell him while he turned her toward an establishment down the road a short way from where they stood.

"It's exactly the right time. It'll help calm your nerves and I can thank you for saving my life."

She went along with him with a resigned sigh. She still wasn't quite sure how to get back to the tunnel entrance on her own anyway.

"Is there an age limit for drinking on Onderon?" Soniee asked as he opened the door and ushered her inside.

"Seventeen. Why? Worried they won't let you in?" He pulled out a chair at one of the tables and gestured for her to sit.

The chivalry of the act was not lost on her but she only raised her eyebrow and went around the table to pull out her own chair. "No, just glad Kason can't come in and see us together and get the wrong idea."

Saw laughed. The chair he had originally pulled out for her he spun so it was facing backward to the table and straddled it. "You gotta cut the kid some slack. My first crush was 13 years older than me and she was married."

A pretty waitress sauntered over. She gave Saw a smile and Soniee a darker look. "The usual?" she asked.

"What'll you have, Dara?" He asked her.

Soniee shrugged. "No idea."

"Two." Saw told the waitress, giving her a wink and then he turned back and gave his full attention to his 'date'. Neither of them spoke until glasses were brought and placed in front of each of them.

The waitress said something in Onderonian that Soniee assumed meant 'enjoy' but it could have been, 'hope you choke on it' for all she knew.

Saw raised his glass and she raised hers also, " _K'oyacyi_." They both drank and she closed her eyes for a moment as if she could feel some of the tension easing out of her muscles.

"Better?" He asked.

"It's a start." She almost smiled and took another drink. "So this crush of yours, did she happen to be another… friend of your parents?"

Saw had the glass halfway to his mouth again but he put it down and laughed. "She was actually, a good friend."

"I wish I could have met them." Soniee rolled her eyes after she'd said it. "Silly. I hardly know you." She took another quick sip of her drink and went on. "It's just... spending some time talking with Shara… I know I'll never get to know my parents but meeting someone who was here when they were, that generation, I guess. Just gives me an idea of what it might have been like."

"They would have loved meeting you." Saw said, completely serious.

His surety took her by surprise. It wasn't as if he was saying his parents would have politely welcomed any girl he brought home to meet them but that they would have specifically looked forward to meeting her personally. Awkwardly she looked down into her drink and they remained silent while she finished the first and he ordered her a second. She didn't say no to it even though she was already feeling a bit tipsy.

Then she chuckled. "You're not trying to get me drunk, are you, Saw Gerrera?"

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing." He smiled back at her.

"That's good." She lifted her glass to him and then took a gulp. "Last time I got truly _haryc b'aalyc_ I ended up with a clone in my bed."

He raised an eyebrow, she blushed and then rushed on to explain. "I mean, nothing happened. He… he ended up marrying my best friend."

He was trying to hold it back and then Saw burst out laughing. Soniee shook her head, rolled her eyes, and then she was laughing, too. It felt so good just to give in to the absurdity. She laughed until her stomach hurt and she had tears in her eyes. She had almost forgotten what they were laughing about when they both finally had to catch their breath.

"Well Dara, you don't have to worry about that this time." He grinned at her.

"A-about what?" she asked.

The way he was looking at her and his tone turned more serious. "About someone ending up in your bed." His gaze fell back down to his drink as he smiled. "That's not going to happen on Myat's watch."


	7. it wasn't a date

well, it wasn't. good luck convincing the other girls in the ladies' dorm. and maybe yourselves as well.  
and Soniee gets a start on her mom's journal.

* * *

"It wasn't a date," Soniee said for a third time but she didn't seem to be convincing the other girls.

Werda countered with a grin, "They were in the pub having a drink and laughing." She crossed her arms over her chest as if that settled the matter.

The part about the drinks was right. Soniee's head still felt a little fuzzy but Saw had walked her back to the ladies' dorm before she was too far gone. "He bought me a drink." She admitted. "We had a run in with some stormtroopers and…"

Chi'ann's hands were flying furiously and Myat translated, "zhe wants to know what 'appened wiz zee troopers. Eesn't eet obvious! Trouble follows Gerrera wherever 'ee goes!"

"He was trying to help a little kid," Soniee hurried to explain. "One trooper fired a blaster and then the other came around the corner…"

"And Saw came out blasters blazing and rescued you both?" Werda asked her already wide eyes even wider with excitement as if she were watching a holovid.

"Well no," Soniee frowned. "He didn't even see the second trooper coming. I knew he had the blaster in his belt so I grabbed it and I… shot them both."

Werda was too amazed to speak and Chi'ann's hands were still. Myat finally said, "You saved 'im?"

Soniee shrugged and said quietly, "I did what had to be done." Then she rushed on. "So you see that's why he bought me the drink. It was to, er, thank me… and to settle my nerves because I mean I had just…"

"Saved his life!" Werda had found her voice again. "That's fantastic!"

Chi'ann made a graceful motion with one hand and Myat rolled her eyes. "Zhe says eet eez romanteek."

"Oh it was nothing like that…" Soniee assured them.

"Yeah, not like you and Zal." Werda teased the Pantoran who blushed a lovely shade of violet.

Myat, however, was still looking intently at Soniee. "You do not feel zees way about Gerrera?"

Soniee stuttered, "Well, I … no … of course. I- I can't… there was…" She couldn't tell them about Korkie, her marriage, the possibility that he had already said the words to divorce her and move on with his life. And why wouldn't he? Their child had died because she couldn't save him.

"A tragic love affair back on Mandalore?" Werda guessed, hungry to hear more of the story.

Myat must have seen something in Soniee's expression. The Twi'lek reached out and laid a green hand on the other girl's cream colored. "Dara, deed Gerrera pressure you?"

"No." Soniee almost laughed. "He wasn't trying to get me drunk or anything like that. He said there was no reason to worry that we'd end up in bed together, this time."

"Zis time?" Chi'ann signed and then Myat translated.

Soniee sobered. What had he meant by 'this time'? She had been talking about the last time she got drunk when Fox had brought her back to Padme's apartment. But had Saw meant that there might be another time when he would end up in her bed, that he would like to have the opportunity some time when she didn't have a chaperon? "I'm sure he was only joking."

"Never know with Saw Gerrera." Werda said in a singsong voice. "He has seemed awfully interested in you since you arrived."

"You don't weesh for 'ees attention?" Myat asked.

"Well, I- I can't." Soniee shook her head.

Werda guessed again, a little too close for comfort. "Because of the boy you left back on Mandalore."

Soniee stared at her pleading that she not dig further into the past. "I don't know if he still…"

Myat patted her hand with a determined smile. "You are safe 'ere."

"Thank you." Soniee looked around at the other girls and by their nods and smiles she knew that she truly could trust them.

"So what will you do now?" Werda asked wistfully.

She was probably referring to the entire situation with Saw and her past but Soniee wasn't ready to deal with all that yet. She grinned. "I'm going to get some studying done. If I'm not too _haryc b'aalyc_."

Werda's expression turned sour. "You mean Aunt Shara already gave you homework?"

Soniee who had begun to take out her holonotebook and mother's journal, turned and smirked. "Is she your aunt too?"

"Shara adopts everybody." Werda shrugged. "Well, if you're not going to talk about anything else interesting, I'm out."

"It's not really homework. I'm going to try to make a start translating my mom's journal." Soniee didn't look up but she knew the words had had an effect.

Werda came right back and sat on the edge of the bed. "You'll tell us all when you work it out?"

"Of course." Soniee smiled. "But I'm probably going to be extremely dull for the next twenty standard years or so while I do. And it probably won't even be that interesting when I do. How exciting could the life of a sixteen year old Onderonian girl be?"

None of them really believed that. Werda had lived through a droid occupation when she was that age. Chi'ann had already been performing on stage and Myat, who hadn't even reached sixteen yet, had enough life experience to fill several journals. Not that she would want to relive those moments by writing them down.

Soniee thought back to when she was sixteen. She had her first boyfriend. She told him that she was a Force user and he told her that his mother was a Duchess and his father was a Jedi. No she had a feeling that her mother, who two short years after she began penning this journal had died in a crash, running away, to give birth to her child, probably had not lived a dull life either.

She opened the book and turned to what was instinctively the end. This right to left arrangement was really going to take some getting used to.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Chi'ann's hands were moving. There was another language she was going to have to learn.

Myat translated. "Zhe zinks zat Gerrera would not find watching you so dull."

Werda laughed and even Chi'ann managed a wheezing sort of giggle.

"'Ee will not bozair you, Dara, and neezair will we." Myat shooed the other girls away so Soniee could have some peace.

This was not going to be easy. She had to translate the runes into their Aurebesh equivalent and then figure out phonetically what that word might be in the Onderonian to Baisc dictionary she had pulled up on the holonet. It was helped by the fact that, thankfully, her mother had begun her journal the same way teenage girls have been beginning journals for all of time, "Dear Diary, My name is..." And then there it was she had seen her mother's first name written in Aurebesh in the inscription in the cover but here it was in her own hand, "Melaana Ophelia Rash."

Soniee let out a laugh and at the same time tears sprang to her eyes.

"What is it?" Werda asked for all the girls who were now staring at her.

"Her middle name." Soniee smiled. "She was named for the princess of Onderon. I was in that play once. I played that character." She dropped her eyes to the journal again. She couldn't just go around saying things like that. Everyone knew that Soniee Ordo, Representative of Mandalore, was known as the Princess of Onderon because of the part she had played. But hundreds, thousands of worlds must perform the Bards plays every rotation. She wasn't alone in her portrayal of the character.

The girls just nodded, smiled at her, and went back to what they were doing. Of course it didn't really matter to them, but to her the connection was monumental and only in the first few words she had managed to translate.

She was tired but on a roll now. She wanted to figure out just one more word and then another and then another. She learned that the journal was not her mother's only lifeday gift that year. Her parents had given her something called a Cloud Hopper. She did a search and found that it was a sort of two seater ship with an open cockpit. Her mother had written how she always wanted to be a pilot, ever since she had read...

"Werda, could you help me with something?" Soniee asked. She didn't realize that the other girl had already fallen asleep.

"Hmm?" She sat up and stretched. "Find something interesting?"

"Oh I'm sorry I woke you. It can wait."

The shadow girl walked over and sat beside her. "'Sokay. What is it?"

"My mother is talking here about a book she read, I think. She says it's why she wanted to become a pilot. Only the girl in the story was the captain of a ship. The adventures of..."

"Sanya Harkon." Werda finished for her with a smile. "Yeah, it's a legend of the Northern Sea. Grandma Flint sent a copy of it down to my mom to read to all of us kids when I was little."

"Saw-nee-ah?" She carefully pronounced the syllables. It sounded so much like her own name. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Yeah that's right. You can probably find the book free somewhere on the net in Basic. I'm sure it's been translated. It's pretty popular and I don't know a whole lot of people who can read runes. Need anything else?" Werda asked with a yawn.

"No." Soniee mused. "No, I think I'm about ready to call it a night too." She closed the notebook and journal and set them carefully on a side table.

She'd known her mother was a pilot. Of course, she was piloting a ship when she'd given birth to her daughter. But knowing that she'd always wanted to be a pilot and that she'd named her daughter after the character who inspired her, it was more than she'd ever hoped to learn from just a few lines of text.

* * *

After their date, that was most definitely not a date, Saw had also been unable to sleep. He had returned to his own apartment. He had found the place months ago, deep under the city, already almost completely furnished. He knew that it had once been the home of Bremon Kira's uncle Naidon.

He didn't care how many times his parents and Uncle Brem had warned him away from the place. After Steela had died, after Bonteri had sold them out to the Empire and the Stormtroopers had come and burned down the jungle, he needed a place to come to be alone. The apartment seemed ready made for a bachelor who needed an escape from the world above.

When the Blackwells had shown up and needed a place to stay it was easy for him to hand over the town house and his dad's old shop to them for as long as they needed it. There were too many memories for him to stay there day in, day out, anyway.

But he wasn't thinking about any of that now. He was thinking about Dara. As hard as it was to believe that Mel's daughter could sing or that Brem's daughter was afraid to ride a dalgos, it was becoming more and more obvious that she was theirs. Her expressions, her kindness, her humor, her stubbornness, it was all so much like the man he'd grown up with and the woman he remembered.

And yet he had Shara had agreed not to tell her, to let her find out on her own, to let her ask the questions. Surely when she started working on the journal there would be questions. Suddenly he wanted to ask her if she had been able to get a start on it.

Without even really thinking about what time it was, he lost track sometimes when he spent too much time in the tunnels. He jumped up and made his way toward the ladies' dorm.

He tried the door. Of course it was locked and then he knocked. "Dara, you up?" He called through the obstacle.

He waited impatiently for an answer and then finally heard a voice, Myat's, "Dara, does not weesh to speak to you Mr. Gerrera."

"She doesn't..." he asked confused. He checked the chrono on his wrist. It was late. "Well, she's alright, isn't she? Probably sleeping. Should have thought of that."

The voice came right back as fierce and protective as he had ever heard her. "Zhe ees een bed and does not weesh you to join 'er."

"Look, it wasn't like that." He leaned against the door and sighed. "It wasn't a date."

"So you say."

He stood up straight again, annoyed. "Just tell her I came by. I'll talk to her tomorrow."

Soniee had woken enough to hear most of the exchange. "It wasn't a date." She repeated quietly to herself as she rolled over and went back to sleep.


	8. Princess of Onderon part1

finally getting around to telling the story that I hinted at in chapters 3 and 22 of Ashla Awareness. So fun to go back and write Melaana again and her dashing Pantoran flight instructor.

* * *

"Werda, this isn't some obscure Onderonian word, is it?" It was several characters long and Soniee had sounded out the runes as carefully as she could and written the phonetic Aurebesh syllables on a scrap of flimsi. But the two words her mother had used to describe her first flight instructor just didn't match up to anything she could find in the translation dictionary.

Werda looked over her shoulder and pronounced the syllables. "Not - lew - sky? No, I don't think it's Onderonian."

But as soon as Soniee heard the word said aloud it reminded her of something.

"What's the context? Maybe we can figure it out." Werda suggested.

"It's er something to do with her flight instructor."

Werda asked, "Could it be a name?"

"That's just what I was wondering. Here look at this next part." She pointed to the next set of Aurebesh syllables. And as Werda pronounced them she finished along with her. "Pop - a - noy - da!"

" _Manda_!"

"Someone you know?" Werda giggled at the other girl's reaction.

"Notluiski Papanoida!"

The giggle turned to a frown of recognition. "That does sound familiar. Hey, wasn't he an actor or something?"

"He was my adopted Momma's favorite holostar." Soniee bit her lip.

"So," Werda led her to continue. "Your mother must have liked him too if she recognized that her flight instructor looked like a him?"

"I don't think he just looked like him. I think it was him!"

"Why would a holostar come to Onderon and give flight lessons to some girl?"

Soniee swallowed and then began, "Someone… told me once that Notluiski Papanoida came to Onderon years ago to research an upcoming role. While he was here he met a girl. He fell in love with her. He was going to leave his wife and kids to be with her."

"You don't think...?" Werda whispered in suspense.

"He did star in a holo about fighter pilots about a year after this entry was written." She hardly wanted to believe it.

Werda pressed. "So your mom…"

"The… person who told me the story about the Onderonian girl… he said I looked like her."

"Dara, do you know what this means?" Werda exclaimed. "Your dad could have been a holostar!"

Chi'ann had silently come over to join them while they were talking and at these words she and Soniee shared a look and burst out laughing.

"What?" Werda asked.

Chi'ann lifted one of her long sleeves and held her blue skinned arm up next to Soniee's light tan appendage. Then she shook her head still smiling.

"Notluiski Papanoida is Pantoran. He's actually the Chairman of the moon now." She looked to Chi'ann for confirmation and the older girl nodded. Then Soniee looked back at Werda and shook her head. "There is no way that he is my father."

"Then what happened between them?" Werda asked with a disappointed sigh.

Soniee shrugged. "Guess I had better get to work translating."

"Too right, you should." Werda nudged her playfully back to the grindstone. "And you thought this was going to be dull."

* * *

It had been a whole week since her life day when her parents had unveiled her beautiful new cloudhopper and so far all she'd been allowed to do was sit in the cockpit and stare longingly at the controls. She had also spent a good deal of time pouring over the instruction holo that came with the craft and she'd found an automated tutor/simulator on the net. Melaana was sure she could have figured out how to pilot the thing on her own. Her parents, however, insisted that she take the entire course of lessons with a certified teacher.

Finally, today he had arrived! Melaana was wearing her new flight suit it was red and black like the banners that hung proudly outside her family's estate. She brushed back her thick hair and wrangled it into a braid that would fit underneath her shining new flight helmet.

She could see through the front windows of the entrance hall as she descended the stairs, that her instructor was waiting on the veranda with her parents.

He was Pantoran. She recognized his blue skin, brilliant in the sunlight. When he turned his head, gold eyes appraised her and he smiled. He must have been twenty-something and she supposed most girls would have said he was dashing. But Melaana wasn't most girls. She lifted her chin apathetically and wished only to be in the air.

"You must be Miss Melaana," he greeted her in a rich practiced baritone.

"Mel." She corrected, offering her hand to shake his.

Instead he took the hand, bent, and brushed it with his lips. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance." He gave her a roguish wink that seemed familiar for some reason.

She rolled her eyes and got a frown of disapproval from her mother.

"Baron To'mas has just been informing your father and I of his flight credentials." Mother told her.

"So you trust Baron To'mas to teach me to fly?" She asked hopefully.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Melaana dear?" Mother was looking at the cloudhopper apprehensively as if it might explode as soon as it left the ground. Father's eyes were on her instructor as if he wasn't quite sure the younger man should be left alone with his only daughter. If Mel had to guess which of her parents had the greater cause for worry, it was probably her father. But she had waited so long for this day. "Yes! It's all I've ever wanted. Please, Daddy, say I may go?"

The older man smiled indulgently at her. "Of course you may. That's why we got you the craft and I won't have you flying it without proper instruction. Pay careful attention to your lessons."

"I will, Daddy!" She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Oh, thank you, Daddy!"

He started right off as she had been dreading he would from the way he was looking at her. The Baron, if he was indeed a Baron, was attempting to show her how to fasten her security harness, when the back of his hand gently brushed over the front of her chest. She gasped and might have thought it was an accident if it hadn't been for his smirk.

That could have been the end of it but no he had to press his luck. Again as he was testing to make sure that the belts were tight enough his hand lingered just a little too long over her breast.

She swatted his hand away and told him in a perfectly calm voice. "Mr. To'mas, if that is your real name, I wish you wouldn't do that. I would really hate to have to scream and tell my father that you accosted me. You see I very much want to learn to fly and if my family has to bring charges against you and then I have to convince them to find me another instructor and then wait until one can be found, it will be my next life day before I ever get off the ground."

The Pantoran chuckled, seeing her in a new light. He still seemed rather infatuated with her but he now knew that she wasn't just going to fall into his arms like some silly swooning maiden from a holodrama.

"You can teach me to fly can't you?" She asked. "Those documents you showed my parents aren't just some forgery you made up so you might seduce unsuspecting young girls?"

"Not at all. I mean to say, of course I can teach you. Forgive me, I had no idea when I arrived that I would be instructing such a lovely pupil." He was enjoying the banter and she supposed that was alright as long as they could get down to business.

"Well let's get on with it." Her smile was purely for the prospect of the lesson. If he took it differently she couldn't be blamed for that. Again he gave her that rather familiar wink and then he began to go over the necessary pre flight checks.

Several lessons went by with a generous amount of friendly verbal sparing. Despite their age difference Melaana found that she and the baron had read a lot of the same plays and seen the same holos. She could reference a line and he would come right back with following line until they had recited the entire scene. He managed to keep his hands to himself but he did often give her that wink that was so frustratingly familiar. Melaana was sure she had heard his voice and seen that same expression somewhere before.

She didn't put it all together until Sanjay asked her one afternoon, "How was your lesson with Dr. Kalmar?"

"Who?" She laughed.

"The Pantoran, he looks like that young doctor who just got killed off in one of Mother's _stories_. They'll probably find a way to bring him back next season."

"Unless he's playing a different role," she mused. Then she left her brother to his jogans and ran up to her room and more specifically to her datapad.

She searched for the current season of Mother's favorite holosoap and it wasn't long before she saw that same wink that had been troubling her for more than two weeks. She navigated to the credits and found his name. So he was a Baron. Interesting! She was surprised that Mother hadn't noticed.

The next day her lesson involved not just landing the cloudhopper but bringing it in, and parking in the busy Iziz spaceport. She had to pay attention to her own flying and the other pilots and find her way into the designated landing pattern and comm the tower to request and receive clearance codes. And all this had to be done while her handsome instructor, yes, she had finally admitted to herself he was quite good looking, was watching her silently from the copilot's seat.

She needn't have worried. Her execution of the operation was flawless. Grinning she set the craft down in the landing bay and gave a squeal of delight.

"That was beautifully done," the Baron complimented her, removing his helmet. "And what do you do next?"

She left her own helmet on, thinking self-consciously about what her hair might look like when she took it off. His dark hair was carelessly ruffled and Melaana wondered what it might feel like to run her fingers through it.

"Mel?" He brought her out of her daydream.

"Oh!" Now she was glad the helmet was covering the blush that had risen to her cheeks. "We make sure everything is shut down here and then do a walk around the outside of the craft to make sure that everything checks out there."

"Well, _we_ don't. I'm just here to observe. Show me how it's done, Pilot." He gestured towards the control panel and then crossed his arms over his chest.

Melaana nodded and her hands fumbled as they never had before as she finished the job. She realized she was trembling but she refused his offer of help. What should it matter if he was a holostar? She couldn't help but be a little flattered by his attention.

The Baron climbed down from the cloudhopper first and then reached up to give her a hand to step down and stood very close.

"So, the walk around?" She suggested, with a bit of a quaver in her voice.

He nodded and stepped out of her way. She did a circle around the craft with one gloved hand resting on the hull but her eyes, hidden behind the helmet, watched her instructor who seemed to be checking the bay where they had docked rather than the cloudhopper. It took her a moment to realize that he was marking the position of surveillance cams. He halted her promenade in a spot where her craft hid them from view.

"Take off your helmet, Melaana," he said softly, backing her against the wing.

She did so but didn't meet his eyes as she tried to smooth back her loose curls.

He lifted his own hand to push a wayward lock behind her ear. "Have you ever been kissed?" He asked, and the sound of his voice gave her an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Of course I have," she answered trying very hard to sound grown up and fearing that she was failing miserably.

He chuckled and began to lean closer to her. "Not a kiss goodnight from your father or a peck on the cheek from your brother. I mean have you really, honestly been kissed."

"I know what you meant." Her voice came out higher than she meant it to and breathy.

His face was very close to hers now and her heart was beating fast.

"I would very much like to kiss you, Melaana."

She hardly had time to nod before he tipped up her chin with one finger and his lips touched hers.

She really had been kissed before or rather more like she had kissed a boy. He'd only been the young man who came to wash and detail her father's speeders. Actually not many boys wanted to risk the wrath of her parents to attempt anything with the Rash heiress. She'd taken it into her own hands to corner the poor lad and convince him to just see what it was like.

This was nothing like that at all. One of the Baron's hands tangled into her hair and cupped the back of her head while the other curled around her waist and drew her body close to his. His mouth was moving against hers until she barely parted her lips and then his tongue was pressing inside and she felt the vibration of a moan that she wasn't entirely sure which one of them had uttered.

"Goddess, you are incredible!" His mouth left hers and traveled over her jaw and down to her neck just below her ear. His hands seemed to be all over her. She wasn't sure if he was calling her a goddess or if he was calling out to some Pantoran deity but the way he made her feel inside was heavenly.

She wanted to say something but the first thing that came to mind was, "I know who you are."

"Do you?" He asked with a chuckle that turned into another rumbling moan against her throat.

"Baron Notluiski Papanoida." She said breathlessly.

Hearing her say his name seemed to only excite him more and he pulled her hips against his own.

She felt a hardness pressed against her stomach and nervously tried to speak again, "That's quite a mouthful."

Only after he groaned and thrust against her, his lips returning to hers and his tongue delving deep past her teeth did she realize her words might have been taken very differently than she had intended. "I- I didn't…" Melaana stuttered when he allowed her to come up for air.

"Nate. You can call me Nate." His passion filled gaze was intoxicating. Then he looked down and his hands went to the zipper at the front of her flight suit.

"Nate!" Her hands covered his in an attempt to stop him. "We can't, we can't do this! Not here. Not like this." Melaana wasn't even completely sure what _this_ might entail though she had a pretty good idea and she feared her words might sound like something out of one of the holos he'd acted in. They had the desired effect, however, and he moved his hands to the safer location of her shoulders.

"You're right," he said, his breathing still heavy and fast. "I'm sorry. I got carried away. I've just wanted so long to…" he kissed her again and she couldn't help but lean closer. "But I won't take you like this. It wouldn't be right."

"Th-thank you." Was the only response she could think of. She tensed slightly as he pulled her into an embrace and then relaxed wrapping her arms around him as well.

He smoothed back her wild mane of hair and kissed her forehead. "I am glad you discovered who I am. I never wanted to make love to you as anyone but myself."

She trembled at his last statement but tried to ignore it, nervous words tumbling out of her. "Yes I… wondered what you might be doing on Onderon. Maybe just a little peace and quiet after being murdered by your patient whose wife you were having an affair with after he woke up from his coma?" She smiled shyly and he laughed at her summation of his previous role.

"That does take a lot out of a person." He gave her a quick kiss.

She couldn't quite believe that she was the girl he'd rather be kissing than one of the holostarletts he had worked with on stage and cam.

"I asked them to write me out of the show, actually." He told her pulling her close again. "Got something much bigger ahead. A lead in a feature and you're part of it whether you know it or not."

"Am I?" She asked looking up at him.

"That's right." He tapped her nose with one blue finger. "I'll be playing a pilot in a flight academy. Teaching really is the best way to prove you know a thing so I got my accreditation and found a pupil in need of instruction. I can't tell you how happy I am that it was you."

"I - I am, too." Melaana tilted back her head for him to kiss her again.

To be continued...


	9. Princess of Onderon part2

The fateful end of the relationship between Mel and her holostar. And more of Soniee's secrets are exposed.

* * *

Melaana knew she should, but at the same time she was afraid of what she might find. She had the vague recollection of there being a story on one of Mother's holo gossip shows ages ago that one of the stars of a soap she liked to watch had gone home to Pantora for the birth of his son. She'd remembered the name of the moon and the beautiful blue skin and the intricate facial markings of the people who lived there. Melaana remembered asking her mother if the little baby would have the marks on his face when he was born or if they drew them on after. Mother had said she didn't know.

That's what had reminded her of the news story. Just yesterday after their regular lesson, she and Nate had spent a happy hour kissing and she had traced the markings on his face with her fingers. Again they had stopped short of actually becoming lovers. She was nervous and he was patient, mostly.

He was going to have to report to the set where filming the holo soon and though he hadn't said yet, she thought he might ask her to come with him. Before she agreed to anything like that, however, she did want to know more about him. It couldn't have been him in that story. There were plenty of other actors in the Galaxy who were from Pantora. It was one of them who had a family to return to, not her Nate. But she had to know.

Melaana took a deep breath and then entered the search into her datapad for the bio of Baron Notluiski Papanoida. She closed her eyes while the articles started to fill the screen, then steeled herself for whatever she might find, and began to read.

Tears blurred her vision as she finished the first page and went on to another. It was worse than she feared. Not only did he have a four year old son. He had a daughter as well and the most recent news reported that his wife was expecting their third child. Worse still there were rumors that he was planning on leaving his wife for some mystery girl they were calling 'the princess of Onderon'.

Melaana shut off the datapad. She couldn't read any more. Etched in her mind was the image of that little boy hanging on to his pregnant mother's skirt. And it was her, Melaana. She was the one tearing their family apart.

She cried herself to sleep and woke up with a headache the next morning but she knew what she was going to tell him. There was no way they could see each other any longer. She would tell him she knew the truth and that she wanted him to go back to his family. But he didn't arrive that morning. Instead after waiting and waiting she returned to her room and opened the hated datapad that had ruined all her hopes and dreams. There she found that he had sent her a comm.

"I'll be away for a few days, Princess." It said. "Have some things I need to get settled then I'm going to have a talk with your father and I'll have something to ask you too…"

She couldn't listen to the rest. She didn't want to hear him say he loved her.

Melaana spent the next two days shut up in her bedroom. If her parents or brother guessed that she was pining for her missing flight instructor they didn't know the half of it. Maybe they thought she'd leave off this crazy piloting idea. Well she never would. She just couldn't leave things as they were, with a family torn apart because of her.

On the third day he returned waiting for her on the veranda to begin their lesson as if nothing had changed.

"Did you miss me, Princess?" He asked in a whisper as he led her to the cloudhopper.

She didn't speak as she climbed up into the cockpit.

He climbed up behind her and took the copilot's seat. "I get it. You're angry with me for leaving without saying goodbye. You got my comm right?"

She nodded and quickly donned her helmet before he could see her angry tears.

"I sent you others while I was off planet. Did you receive them?"

She shook her head. She had seen that there were messages but she hadn't opened any of them. She couldn't bear to see his face or hear his voice. She wasn't even really sure why she was here with him now.

He put his hand on her shoulder and she jumped. "I've found a great place I want to show you and then I have some news that I promise will make up for being away from you for so long. Alright?"

When she didn't speak, he just entered the coordinates into the ship's computer. "Take us up, pilot."

She nodded and took off the same way they had dozens of times before. As they got closer to the spot he had programed in, her eyes traveled back and forth from the control readout to the terrain in front of them. It was a range of jagged hills and then she noticed in the side of one of the hills an opening like a cave. She realized that's what they were headed for.

"It's very small. Are you sure we'll fit?" She asked speaking for the first time since she had seen him that morning.

He was gazing at her, helmet off, with a hungry look in his gold eyes. "It'll fit. Just ease it in."

Melaana swallowed at the vaguely shadowed innuendo in the phrase.

She was rather proud of herself for the landing in spite of everything but she wasn't in a hurry to leave the safety of the cockpit.

After a few seconds he powered down the cloudhopper from his copilot's position and undid her belts, and lifted off her helmet. "Come on. I want to show you this place."

She allowed him to help her down out of the cockpit and she looked around. She couldn't help but be impressed with what she saw. The cave did make a marvelous natural hideaway. He must have come some time earlier with a load of things he'd thought they might want. There was a spot set up with wood for a fire. And beside it several cushions and blankets and a chilled bottle of wine.

Melaana had only tasted wine once or twice. She wasn't even old enough to buy a drink at the bars in town.

Nate came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "What do you think, Princess? It's all for you."

"Please don't call me that. I … it's…" a few days ago she had thought this was what she wanted. But now… "I know!" She blurted out. "I know about your wife and your son and your daughter." She ended with a sob.

"Prin - Mel." He corrected as he spun her to face him. "You don't have anything to worry about. I've taken care of all that. From now on it's just me and you."

He leaned in to kiss her but she pushed him away. "Took care of it? How do you take care of something like that?"

"Melaana, it was…" he reached for her again and drew her back into his arms. "I wish I could have told you myself instead of you having to find out from some gossip holo. That's what it was, wasn't it? You know you can't believe everything you hear from those things. This line of work, living in the public eye, they'll make up all kinds of things for publicity."

She nodded, willing the whole thing to have been some dreadful misunderstanding.

He gave her a kiss and continued to explain gently, as if to a confused child. "It was an arranged marriage. We both came from noble families. It was political more than anything."

She had started to relax a little. He had an explanation. Of course he did.

"I was expected to give her children to join our families, to carry on the name. I've done right by her. I gave her three."

Melaana tensed up once again. She had mentioned the son and daughter but he obviously knew about the one that was on the way. "How can you just leave them? What if… what if I…"

"When!" He held her close, his hands going to her narrow waist. "When you and I have children it will be the most wonderful event of our lives, barring only our wedding day!" He kissed her deeply. "We'll raise them together with no interference from families or noble houses. We'll travel the galaxy with them and they'll be loved more than…"

"But how can you say that? How can you in one breath dismiss the children you already have and in the next day that ours will be loved?"

"I'm not dismissing them, Melaana." He practically growled with frustration. This was obviously not going the way he had planned. But what had he expected? That she would just forget about the children he had left behind and get started making more? That she would be happy that he was leaving them for her?

"I told you they will be taken care of. They will want for nothing."

"Except their father," she mumbled so quietly he had to ask her to repeat and she did. "I said, they'll want for nothing except their father!"

"Now, Melaana, you don't understand. Their mother and I don't…"

"You seem to have gotten along well enough to create three babies and one of them not even born yet. So that must have been how long before you met me?" she was building up steam now and even Melaana herself wasn't sure what she might be capable of once she boiled over.

He held onto her shoulders trying to reason with her. "Nothing that happened before you matters to me. You are my future." They were pretty words. He probably got them from some holo he acted in. He was going to have to get some original material.

"Nate, your family needs you. Your son and your daughter and your little unborn baby need you."

"But what about what I need, Melaana? I need you!" He tried to pull her into another embrace at the same time that she brought her knee up hard into his crotch. He doubled over in pain.

"Go home to your family!" She told him without pity and then she walked towards the cloudhopper. "But you'll have to catch another ride."

* * *

"You know who would really love to hear this, after all those times we watched his holos?" Soniee asked herself. Her hand was already on the commlink that Saw had lent her for emergencies. Before she thought about what she was doing she had entered in the ID and activated the comm to Lagos. Then, suddenly horrified, she deactivated it again. She couldn't just comm Lagos. Lagos thought she was dead. They all did.

At that moment a text message came up on her holonotebook that distracted her from her thoughts. It was from Chi'ann. "I don't mean to pry," it said. "but who was it who told you the story of Papanoida and the princess of Onderon? I only ask because I remember the scandal when I was a little girl on Pantora. He was a Baron long before he became Chairman. His family tried to hush it up. The identity of the girl was a closely guarded secret. We all wondered who she might be? What she might look like? So I'm curious to know who might have told you that you resemble her."

"He did." Soniee typed back without really considering. "I met him once at a performance of the Republic Bard Company." She looked across the room to where the mute girl was typing out a reply.

Their eyes met for a second before Soniee looked down again to read the message. "I didn't know the RBC gave performances on Mandalore." She knew. She must know. The two of them had been in Galactic City at the same time.

"It was on Coruscant." Soniee typed out the admonition.

"When you were there as Representative?" Came the text question.

Soniee looked up and mouthed the words, "Please don't tell anyone."

The Pantoran smiled conspiratorially and made a sign like she was turning a key at her lips. Chi'ann had been a spy, she knew, and had made a living by selling secrets. Soniee would just have to trust that her friend would keep hers.

* * *

Lagos sat with her feet propped up on the caf table a glass of water close by along with the controllers for various holo devices and of course her commlink in case she needed to get a hold of her husband in a hurry. Fox had taken Tracen out for a walk and she was supposed to be resting. Despite the fact that the entirety of this pregnancy had so far gone smoother than when she had carried Trace, after the tragedy of losing Soniee and Oron, no one was taking any chances.

She had waited as long as she thought it was prudent before she had told anyone about the pregnancy. It had been hardest to keep it from Fox. She was thrilled to be having his child. They had both wanted this so badly. But she felt guilty being happy after Korkie's loss.

Then when she finally told them they were upset that she hadn't said something right away. Thank _Manda_ nothing had gone wrong in those first weeks while her health and the baby's were not being scrupulously monitored.

It was a girl this time. They had already found out with all the other tests that had been run to insure that her condition was safe and sound. At first Fox had suggested naming her Soniee but it was still too soon, the pain to raw. So they settled on the name Veeka after Momma Ordo.

Tracen, walking and into everything now, seemed to be just as excited as anyone else about his new baby sister coming. Lagos wondered how long that would last once she was here and demanding the attention of all of his favorite adults. For now she could only enjoy every time he would come up to her, wrap his chubby little arms around her, kiss her belly, and exclaim "Love you, Baby Eekeek!"

When the commlink chimed Lagos was sure it was only Fox. He would be asking if she needed him to pick anything up at the store while they were out. She didn't even look at the ID of the comm origin. "Hey, _Cyar'ika_."

But there was no answer.

"Hello?"

Still nothing.

And then she looked at the ID, No name, just the planet, parsecs away, Onderon.

Lagos shook her head. It had to be a mistake. She didn't know anyone on Onderon. Soniee had talked about wanting to visit there someday but she was gone, dead eight months ago. Or was she?


	10. between the lines

More events from Mandalore, another surprising discovery from the journal, and an old friend on the way for a visit.

* * *

Lagos breathed through another contraction. Her labor this time was far longer than it had been with Tracen. After 30 standard hours, the last three of them hard labor since Doc Gilimar had broken her water, she was exhausted and ready to cave on her assertion that Mando'ade could do this without meds.

The one thing that made it better than her first delivery was having her husband by her side. Fox had hardly left her for more than a few minutes at a time. He walked her around the room, rubbed her back, fed her ice chips, fielded comms from friends, and kept her apprised of how their one year old was fairing with the situation.

"It's almost over." Fox crooned. "You are doing great. You're so strong. _Gar ori mesh'la_. Doc says you're so close now." He kissed her and wiped a cool wet cloth over her brow.

"How's Trace?" She asked him with a thankful, tired smile.

"He's good." her husband assured her. "Especially now that Korkie is playing with him. I think he missed Uncle..."

"Korkie's here?" Lagos asked, cutting him off. She could feel yet another contraction building but she gritted her teeth and focused on his face, searching for an answer.

She had told Korkie about the strange hang-up comm she had received from Onderon three weeks ago. He had given her the strangest look and then he had been avoiding her ever since. He had his excuse. It was hard for him to be around, so close to the end of her pregnancy, after what had happened to Soniee and Oron. But this was something else, she was sure of it.

Lagos cried out with the pain and didn't hear his response but as soon as it began to ebb she asked again. "Korkie's here? Why now? What made him..."

"Shh... It's okay. He said he wanted to be here now that it's time."

She panted in the brief respite. "Tell him to get in here. I want to speak to him." Her eyes had a new fire in them where a moment before she had been weak and exhausted.

Fox was concerned by her change in attitude. "After, _Cyar'ika_. You're so close. I'll bring him in to see you and meet little Veeka after..."

"No! That _kriffing mir'osik dikut_! I want to see him NOW!"

He dared not argue. "Alright. I'll get him. You just sit tight. I'll be right back."

She waited fuming, and wishing she hadn't sent Fox away. Her back was aching and she could feel the baby dropping lower. It really wouldn't be much longer. But she wasn't waiting to confront the lying bastard.

Korkie came in the room hesitantly. "How are you doing, Lagos?" He swallowed.

"How does it look like I'm _kriffing_ doing? Get over here!"

He obeyed the crazed pregnant woman.

She took his hand and as the next contraction built up to its peak she squeezed. Lagos didn't care if she broke every bone.

"Ow! Ow! What's this all abou..." he cringed.

"She. Is. Alive. Isn't. She?" She felt like she was going to need to push soon or her body would just do it for her but she had to have an answer.

"Who?" Korkie asked rubbing his crushed fingers with his other hand as soon as she released him.

"Don't give me that! You know exactly who! That comm I got from Onderon, it was her, wasn't it? Soniee is alive!" She ended the barrage with a scream of pain.

"I'll go get Mij and Fox!" Korkie clearly wanted to make his escape.

"NO! Not until you tell me the truth!" Lagos's eyes, focused for a brief moment, stared into his.

He cursed under his breath and then gave in. "She - she was last time I saw her."

Lagos gritted through her teeth. "Which was when?"

"Her life day. Now really I need to get the doctor and your husband."

"That was months ago!" And she keened again, unable to deny the need to bare down and push. "FOX!"

The two men were by her side and assisting before Korkie had time to call for them.

* * *

Soniee woke to tears running down her cheeks and her mother's journal slipping off her lap onto the dormitory floor. She hopped up out of bed and immediately picked up the old book to brush it off and look for any damage. Thankfully it was alright.

She'd fallen asleep working on the translation again but her dreams hadn't come from the pages of her mother's memories. In fact she was quite sure that the images she had seen of Fox sitting next to Lagos, cradling their newborn baby girl in his arms, and Korkie bringing Tracen in to meet his baby sister, were really happening, right now, lightyears away.

Soniee's hand went to her throat. The cord was still there and the crystal pendant. She worried that wearing the object so powerful in the Force would draw the unwanted attention of the Empire but it was the only physical piece of Concord Dawn that she had, so she kept it on, always.

Even with the pendant however, her dreams had never been this vivid. There was something else here, on this planet, or maybe, she couldn't get the idea out of her head, on its nearest moon?

Most of her dreams seemed to come to her through the eyes of a princess, ages ago, here in Iziz. Soniee had seen her face in a burnished metal mirror. She was pale and beautiful but sad. Her parents were going to force her to marry but she'd met someone else in the palace gardens, a beast rider. "Oron Kira," Soniee whispered remembering the name from the vision.

And there had been other dreams about the princess. The king, her father, dragging her down into the very tunnels that Soniee had come to think of as her home away from home. But there was something deeper, more powerful... _Nadd's Blood_... The words rang in her mind.

Soniee dreamed of her mother too. A young girl who submitted to the dress fittings and hair stylists and balls and suitors, all so she could have a few precious hours of freedom to fly around in her cloudhopper. More often than not she broke these flights with visits to the cave Papanoida had first brought her too. Now it was her own secret hideaway where she read every holo she could get her hands on about ships and flying and practiced with simulations.

Those dreams were explainable. They came straight from the pages of the journal. She looked now at the dates on the top of the pages she had been working on the night before. She was getting closer to the date on the first letter that she believed had come from her father.

The letters were tucked away for safe keeping, not only in her own B-7 freighter but inside the very metal body of her LEP model droid that had stayed locked up on the craft, and powered down, hidden from even her closest Onderonian friends. Only Saw and Zal, who had got a glimpse of the letters when she first arrived, knew of their existence. Neither of them had mentioned them, thankfully.

Of course it was very possible that the writer of the letters, Bremon, wasn't her father at all. Maybe he was just a friend who helped her get through all the craziness of dealing with her family and the advances of her suitors. There were certainly enough of them and anyone of them could have left her with a child that she felt she had to run away to deliver. From what Soniee had just read last night it could have even been...

Werda was suddenly beside her looking over her shoulder. "Find anything else interesting?"

Soniee gasped and then smiled. "You mean, has my mother been snogging any more celebrities?"

"Something like that." The shadow girl grinned and dropped to sit on the bed beside her.

"No, not really. Mostly she's been practicing flying simulations and attending her mother's parties."

"Does she mention any of the names of the men she danced with? I might recognize the family names." Werda had informed Soniee that her family, the Flints, had so many children that they had taken to studying the old bloodlines and marriage records religiously just to make sure that the current generation didn't marry their own cousins.

"There was a name that came up that I thought sounded a little familiar." Soniee hesitated whether she should tell them. She glanced up and saw Chi'ann getting dressed and making her bed across the room. She appeared not to be paying attention but Soniee could tell the mute girl was listening as she always did.

"Come on!" Werda grabbed her arm and shook her. "Who? Don't keep us in suspense."

Soniee debated a moment longer and then just went with it. "Well, the last ball that Melaana attended she danced with a Lieutenant Dane..." she paused, pretending to have a hard time with the pronunciation. "Bon-terry?"

Werda gasped and Chi'ann's gaze jerked up from her chores.

"It sounds familiar to you, too?" Soniee asked carefully "I was thinking that was similar to the name of Onderon's senator?"

"Similar?" Werda jumped up and did a kind of excited dance. "Lux Bonteri's dad was named Dane! Your mom danced with Lux's dad!" She gasped again. "He could be your brother!"

Soniee who a moment before had been laughing at the girl's antics suddenly sobered and glanced over at Chi'ann.

Myat tutted. "Got around deedn't 'ee, eef 'ee was also zee fazair of zat representative who Lux knew on Coruscant."

"W-what?" Soniee stuttered.

Werda looked at her curiously. "Didn't you hear that story? She was from..." A light seemed to dawn in her eyes. "Mandalore."

"Who was this?" Soniee asked again a little more convincing.

"A representative to the Senate when it was still the Republic before it became the Empire." Werda told her smugly as if she knew Soniee was lying. "She was great friends with Senator Bonteri. It was rumored they were lovers and she left the capitol to have his love child. But she wasn't born on Mandalore her parents were from Onderon. Like someone else we know..."

Chi'ann's hands flew in a dizzying non-verbal oration.

Myat translated. "Zee representative was also said to 'ave been killed een an explosion."

"Oh yeah." Werda looked disappointed. "Luxy was mourning her death last time he was planetside." She perked up again. "That doesn't mean that Dara might not be related to him though." She nudged Soniee.

"I suppose it's possible." Soniee shrugged, biting her lip.

Werda flaunted off towards the door. "Well, You can ask him when he comes home."

"The Senator is coming here, to Iziz?" Soniee asked.

"Yep." Werda popped the 'p' at the end of the word and twirled around. "Government business I suppose but they are talking about having a ball in his honor while he's here. Just like in the old days. Like the ones your mother attended. Won't that be something?"

She disappeared around the door frame but before the door could slide shut they heard her run into someone. "Oops, I'm sorry Saw."

And then they heard his voice. It was more of a growl than anything. Soniee jumped up and ran to see what was wrong. It didn't sound like he was only upset at being bowled into.

"Geez, I said I was sorry." Werda was slinking away from his menacing stare when Soniee arrived.

Saw rubbed his forehead in agitation and Soniee approached him slowly. "Is everything alright?"

He looked up and seemed relieved to see it was her. He nodded. "Just got some news that I could have done without."

She stepped a little closer. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Saw studied her for a moment and then heaved a sigh. "Why not?" He saw the other girls peering around the corner from the dorm and waved a hand. "Come on. We'll walk."

Soniee fell into step beside him, quickening her pace a bit to keep up with his longer stride. He was silent for a long while but she got the feeling that just walking off the anger was doing him some good. Still he had said he wanted to talk about it. "So..." she began. "News? Your favorite holo got canceled?"

Saw stopped looked at her incredulously and then gave a dull laugh. "Yeah, somethin' like that." He shook his head and grew serious again. "No. I had this friend. We fought side by side during the rebellion. He liked my sister. I was almost convinced he was good enough for her. And then..." He was looking somewhere over her shoulder but Soniee was sure he wasn't focused on the tunnel wall. He was seeing the images of things that happened years ago.

His voice cracked as he continued. "Then we lost her. We won the war supposedly and he left, went to Coruscant. He was going to take our cause to the Republic, make Onderon great again or some _osik_." He went quiet again.

Soniee drew him out. "And then the Republic wasn't the Republic anymore."

"Yeah," he said noticing her again. "Yeah, exactly. Somethin' about it just didn't feel right. The Jedi were suddenly the bad guys and the Chancellor just goes and names himself Emperor?"

Soniee shuddered, she had her own thoughts about their grand new Emperor. She was thankful that Saw hadn't asked her about her past.

"We worked with the Jedi," he went on. "Lux and me and... Steela. We couldn't have managed what we did without them. And word came that they were all... dead." He started to drift off into memory again but shook himself back into the present. "Anyway, I kept commin' him, tryin' to keep up with what was going on in the capitol, passing on to him how his people were doing back here. But the responses got fewer and further between. It was like he was avoiding me and when he did speak to me, he wasn't coming forward with the whole truth."

"You think he was seduced by the power of the government?" She asked. "Forgetting where he came from?"

"No, I think he remembered where he came from." It was a quick bitter response. "He remembered too well. See, we had these bases out in the jungle where we'd plan, set up attacks, store our gear. Only a few people knew where they were. The Jedi who helped us get set up, they were all dead in the purge, a few soldiers who didn't make it through the rebellion, the Blackwells but the northerners would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to enter into Galactic politics, and Steela and Lux and me."

Saw took a deep breath. "The Empire showed up on Onderon, started making these unprovoked strategic attacks. They tried to make it look like it was just random but they took out every one of those bases. And then to cover up for it they just burned down the whole jungle. Ruping paddocks where they nested, the dalgos barns, my..." He looked at her keenly and then down at his hands. "my friend's ancestral home, gone."

"I'm so sorry." Soniee reached out and touched his hand.

He looked up into her eyes. He might have been about to cry but instead, he smiled. "You should have seen it, the way it used to be. This time of year the jungle would have been full of flowers and the house..." He gave her a strange look. He had given her that same look before when he was talking about his parents wanting to meet her, like this place that was burned down had some connection specifically to her.

Finally he dropped his gaze, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and let out a breath. "Anyway. It's all gone now."

Carefully Soniee broached the subject. "And this... Lux? Werda said he was coming back to Onderon for a visit. That's what's got you so upset, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He admitted. "And he gets a hero's welcome, a royal ball in his honor, just like a fairytale."

He started walking again and Soniee rushed to keep up with him. "So maybe this is your chance to talk to him, find out the truth. There's got to be a reason. Maybe he was coerced. Maybe he thought he was doing what he had to do. So you go to the ball, dance, everybody lives happily ever after."

He stopped and sneered at her.

Soniee laughed. "I didn't mean you dance with Lux. I mean you could I suppose but I didn't take you for the type..."

He laughed too. "So you go with me."

"Uh... no. I'm not going to the ball." Then she turned and started walking. She couldn't chance meeting Lux, people seeing them together, knowing she was alive.

"What's the matter? Can't dance? I know you can sing."

She stopped and smirked at him. "There's a lot of call for singing at these things? My mother would have never survived. From what I've read in her journal she couldn't carry a tune in a _buy'ce_."

Saw burst out laughing and Soniee smiled to see that she had finally broken him out if his funk.

"You learning anything else interesting about her?" Saw asked.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Soniee smiled. "I found out she always wanted to be a pilot. I was named after one of her inspirations."

"There was a pilot called Dara who she looked up to?" There was a measure of disbelief in his tone.

"Something like that." She answered vaguely and then hurried on. "I'm sure Werda informed everyone about how she almost broke up a holostar's marriage?"

"Yeah, I heard that one." He grinned. "What else?"

"I think there may have been an issue with a senator's husband as well…" she bit her lip. "Haven't found out how that one turns out yet."

"Really had them falling at her feet, didn't she?"

Soniee rolled her eyes. "I must not take after her. I've never had that problem."

Before she could blink, Saw dropped to one knee in front of her and laid his hand over his heart. "Dara, go to the ball with me?"

And of course Zal chose that exact moment to come around the corner. "Karabast!" The Lasat smirked after his initial surprise. "I was just heading down to see Chi'ann. I'm guessin' this isn't something you'd like me to share until you two have had a chance…"

Saw and Soniee looked at each other wide eyed then he scrambled to his feet as they both answered simultaneously. "No!"

"There is nothing to tell!" Soniee nearly shrieked.

Saw backed her up. "Yeah, absolutely! Nothing at all going on here!"

"Alright." Zal continued on, laughing. "You know how these rumors get started though. Don't blame me if everyone starts to think…"

"Nothing's going on!" Saw called after him down the hall, exasperated.

"Sure." The Lasat called back. "Whatever you say."

"Gah. Sorry about that." Saw growled but Soniee couldn't help but laugh. He shook his head and also broke into a grudging smile. "I wish I could say that was the first time someone's come along and falsely assumed I was getting engaged."

She narrowed her eyes, curiously. "That sounds like an interesting story."

"I'm guessing you're going to want to hear it now?"

"Yeah." Soniee threaded her arm through his. "You know, when you were in such a foul mood, I was going to ask if I should return the favor and buy you a drink. But since it's only nine in the morning and you seem to be feeling better… how about breakfast?"

"Oh no one will make anything out of that." He smirked.

She lifted her chin defiantly. "You know what? I don't care. Let 'em talk."

"Alright." He nodded. "I do know a place with great nuna eggs and nerf steaks."

"That sounds amazing."


	11. Family ties

While Soniee attempts to avoid a run in with her would be brother, another family enjoys their reunion.

* * *

"You have to go to the ball with him!" Werda exclaimed.

Soniee was seriously beginning to regret her, _who cares what they say_ attitude of earlier that morning. Of course they had all heard about Saw falling on one knee before her and they were never going to let her live it down.

"I'm not going to the ball." She opened her mother's journal hoping for some peace and quiet to dive back in.

"Come on, Dara. You've been on two dates already and he obviously wants to go with you. He hasn't asked anyone else."

"I'm sure he will and they weren't dates." Soniee sighed. "He was worried about meeting the Senator again after their falling out and I was able to offer an outside opinion and some encouragement. That's all it was."

"If he's so worried, wouldn't it be even more encouraging to have you there? He could introduce you to Lux!" Werda grinned.

"Oh yeah. I'm sure that wouldn't be awkward." Soniee scoffed. "Hi, I'm Dara. I might be your bastard half-sister." She glanced over at Chi'ann and noticed her typing furiously.

She wasn't surprised when the message came up on her holonotebook. _You're worried he'll recognize you and find out you're still alive._

Soniee didn't answer. She closed the notebook so Werda wouldn't see the message.

Werda grumbled. "Well obviously you wouldn't say it like that! But the theme of the event is all about the old Houses. It'll be just like the balls your mother attended."

For that reason alone Soniee was upset she was going to have to sit it out. That and she really would love to see Lux again. It broke her heart that he had mourned for her death. He'd been a good friend. And after all that Saw had said, she would like to speak to him herself and find out what all this business was between them...

She must have been silent long enough that Werda gave her up as a lost cause and wandered away. She looked down at the journal but before she could even find the place she had left off, the shadow girl spoke again.

"Dara, you have to see this!"

"What is it now?" Soniee, sighed and left her notebook and the journal on her bunk and crossed the dorm room to where the other girls were gathered around Chi'ann's holo tablet.

The Pantoran girl unplugged her headset so they could all hear the music that was coming from the device.

They watched as the figures of a man and woman twirled in time to the tune.

"They'll probably do this one at the ball." Werda announced. "It's an Onderonian folk dance."

Soniee rolled her eyes and very nearly went back to her translating.

But Werda went on explaining. "It's called 'The Three Lovers' it tells the story of Princess Galia and the man she was betrothed to before she met Oron Kira."

That was enough to get Soniee's attention. She watched closer as the female dancer in the red and gold gown broke away from her first partner and began to dance with the second. The motions in the first part of the dance had been stiff and proper as if the girl had been forced into it but when the second gentleman reached for her the whole feeling changed. The dancer portraying the princess still seemed to look over her shoulder, worried that her assigned partner would return but the way she and her chosen lover moved together, it was... like they were made for each other.

It reminded Soniee of her dream, only then she had been looking out of Galia's eyes and the man in the palace garden had been... Oron Kira. He had reminded her of someone with his dark skin, and his blue eyes. It had felt so real, the way he held her and promised that he would take her away from this place, away from her father, the king and all his evil plots and sorcery.

How could she know that? Soniee had heard the song Shara had sung about the couple and remembered the basics of Kason's helpful translation. But she hadn't really been paying attention then. She'd been thinking of the name, Oron. It had rattled her at the time. No, this was clearer, as if the dream had been a memory, something in her blood. "Nadd's Blood," she mumbled.

The other girls looked at her.

"What was zat?" Myat asked.

"Oh! Oh, nothing. I um..." Soniee sought for something to say. "My mother was going to be betrothed in the section of the journal that I was just reading. First to some widower who was positively ancient. She said she would sell herself to the Hutts if her parents tried that."

The other girls laughed except for Myat who looked away and sniffed as if she didn't think it was at all funny.

Soniee hurried to continue. "Her parents said they'd try to find someone closer to her own age. I think they might have tried for a marriage alliance with someone from Shara's family. At least I think it was the name Blackwell that was mentioned."

"Maybe she is your _Aunt_ Shara after all." Werda suggested.

"Well no," Soniee reached out to Chi'ann's tablet and restarted the holo of the dance of The Three Lovers. She wanted to see it again since she wouldn't be seeing it in person at the ball. "I think someone's parents had just passed away and there was a question of who they needed to speak to for making the betrothal arrangements. Anyway my mother was a little disappointed. It sounded as if she liked the family and wouldn't have minded if the boy in question was the one her parents chose for her."

Soniee frowned still watching the dancers in the holo. "Galia and Oron lived hundreds of years ago." She mused. "It seems strange that forced betrothal was still around when my mother was young."

"Still is." Werda shrugged. "Shara's niece was betrothed to a real sleemo just a couple of years ago."

"Not the same niece who was mistakenly engaged to Saw?" Soniee asked.

Werda laughed. "She's only got the one. And yeah, how'd you find out about that?"

"Saw was telling me the story this morning." Soniee put the puzzle together. "So he pretended to be engaged to her so she didn't have to marry the other guy? But she didn't end up marrying either of them?"

"Nope. Really dodged a blaster bolt there."

"Well, I don't know. Saw's not so bad," Soniee said and instantly regretted it.

"You do like 'im." Myat grinned knowingly at her. And Chi'ann's smile spoke volumes. Werda just giggled.

"No." Soniee rolled her eyes. "It's not like that. We're friends but we're not..."

"Not going to the ball together." Werda finished for her with a disgusted expression. "Too bad." She sighed looking back holo of the dance. "He would have made a brilliant Oron Kira."

 _That was who he reminded her of!_ Soniee realized in an instant. _The man in her dream! He looked like Saw!_ "They're not related, are they?"

"Who?"

"Saw. He's not like descended from the Kira family or something?"

They looked at her strangely. And well they should. She couldn't exactly tell the girls that she'd been having Force induced visions about long dead princesses.

"Wasn't zair an uncle?" Myat asked.

"Saw just called him uncle. They weren't actually related." Werda was still looking at Soniee curiously as if she didn't know quite what to make of her. "But Grandma Flint once said that the Gerrera's were an offshoot of House Kira. They didn't inherit the name but they've always been true beastriders."

The girls watched the rest of the dance thoughtfully and then Soniee wandered back to her translation. "Maybe I'll ask Shara about that Blackwell my mother knew."

"I hate to disappoint you." Werda shrugged. "But she may not have been up north at the time."

"Oh that's right she was originally southern." Soniee remembered. "Oh well can't hurt to ask her when I go for my lesson tomorrow."

* * *

At the sound of the outer door opening, Shara woke with a start. She and her children were really only guests here even though Saw had given them leave to make themselves at home. She had locked up tight before she put everyone to bed, but she wasn't sure who else might have the entry code. She pulled her daughter a little closer in the bed and wondered why she had decided to keep the blaster so far out of reach of her current position. She hadn't wanted the children to get a hold of it and fire it accidentally, but that hardly seemed to matter now if she couldn't get to it quickly enough to protect them from a nighttime intruder.

Living in the city was a lot different now than it had been when she was a girl, in the little rental house near the market with her father. She never remembered locking doors in those days. She had felt safe among her neighbors. And her own children had grown up in Blackhold or on one of the family's ships. The very idea of a thief or some violent criminal attempting to break in there was unthinkable.

Here and now though it was a possibility and Shara had to swallow down a moment of real panic before she heard familiar whispered voices.

"Did Emoth tell Aunt Shara we were coming?"

"He was supposed to. I forget to mention the day to expect us when I last spoke to her."

"You're here!"

"Shhhhh…"

"Sorry, Dad. Cade and Thias can sling their hammocks up in our room."

"What about Dalla?"

"I'll be fine on the couch."

"Hey, Chirn Bait can you do one more thing for me?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Just wait here."

Then it went quiet other than the sounds of the boys getting settled with their cousins in the next room. Shara smiled. Pretending to be asleep, she rolled away from Lana. She could feel as her daughter's weight was lifted from the bed.

"You sure you'll be alright with her?" Shara heard her husband ask.

"We'll be fine, Uncle Jamos."

"Thanks, Chirn Bait."

A sleepy little voice echoed, "Fanks, Chirn Bait."

And they both tried to stifle laughter.

Then Shara heard the bedroom door close and the locking mechanism click. A moment later, after shedding his outer garments, she felt the familiar presence of her husband climb into bed with her. His body spooned around hers for the first time in over two months and she pressed back against him while he pulled her close.

"Mmmm," she crooned softly. "Finally, my secret southern lover who comes to me in the night. Just make sure my husband doesn't find out about us."

He gave her behind a playful swat and then covered her cry of surprise and glee with a long awaited kiss.

"Salt gods, I've missed you, Shar. I never, ever want to be parted from you and the kids that long ever again. Even if they miss some school, even if we miss a catch…"

"They're growing up so fast. Soon they'll be leaving us to start their own lives."

"All the more reason to stay close for as long as we can." Jamos grinned at her. He might be 40 now, his beard gone prematurely, snowy white, and his thick hair peppered with more silver than black, but he still had that little boy smile she'd fallen in love with twenty years ago.

She ran her fingers luxuriously through the thick locks, now lit by the moon spilling in from the window, and nodded. "I love you, Jamos."

* * *

The next morning when Soniee entered the old Gerrera place at the regular time for her lesson with Shara, it seemed to have increased exponentially in its level of craziness. One boy acknowledged her with a, "Hey, Dar!" as he whizzed past but that was as close as she came to gaining anyone's attention. There just seemed to be people and action everywhere in the little house and half of them she didn't recognize.

There was nothing menacing about the chaos. It had an air of celebration. If Soniee had to put it in to words she would have described it like looking down the hall of the boys wing of the dorm back at the academy in Sundari, the day after exams were over.

She smiled as she tried to catch a passing streak of humanity, "Is your mom..."

"Where's Shara?" She tried again a little louder with no better outcome. Finally she made it down the hall to the living room and found a young woman, maybe about her own age, sprawled out on the couch.

"Excuse me," Soniee tried to make herself heard over the noise. "But do you know where Shara is?"

The girl snored. How could she sleep through all this?

Soniee shook the girl's shoulder gently. "Is Shara Blackwell here?"

This earned her a mumble of vaguely nautical old Onderonian and she got a better look at the girl's face. At some point her nose had been broken and she'd never been sent to a medcenter to have it properly repaired. But the eyes stayed firmly closed and with another snore the girl rolled back over.

At this point Soniee was getting a little frustrated. She surveyed the tempest from its calm center until little Lana came running by within her reach and Soniee scooped her up.

"Hi, Dara!" the little girl grinned at her and Soniee couldn't help but smile back.

"Where's your, Momma?"

"In da kitchen." Lana squirmed to be let down again and Soniee obliged. She was off like a shot as soon as her feet hit the ground.

Soniee sighed and headed in that direction. The kitchen sometimes offered a measure of respite from the cacophony of the Blackwell brood, especially when their mother threatened them with pealing vegetables or cleaning something. The two women had often sat there to chat, sometimes practicing speaking Onderonian, sometimes just conversing about ordinary things in Basic. Of course that's where Shara would be.

And she was, standing behind the counter, her hands gripping the edge of it. Standing very close behind her was an older gentleman. He was murmuring to her in old Onderonian and he had one hand groping her under her tunic. The other hand was hidden behind the counter but whatever it was doing, Shara seemed to be enjoying, with her eyes closed, biting her lip.

" _Manda_!" Soniee exclaimed. "I am so sorry." She raced for the back door, studiously avoiding looking at the couple only to be met on the threshold by a mountain of gray fur which pounced on her and began the process of licking and slobbering her to death.

Her cry of alarm and the booming barks of the beast did what Soniee had been previously unable. The entire Blackwell crew was finally alerted to her presence and came running.

"Down Kasey! Down Boy!" said an unfamiliar male voice. "Let the poor girl be."

Then several pairs of hands were dragging the creature off her and several pairs of eyes were staring at her.

"You weren't kidding! She does look like..." said one of new boys before Kason jammed an elbow in his ribs.

"Are you alright?" Kason asked. He extended a hand to help her up and she took it gratefully.

"Thank you. Yes, I'm fine. That... It just startled me." She managed, gesturing toward the animal that was receiving almost as much attention as she was herself.

Lana's arms didn't quite reach around its furry neck. "Kasey! Kasey! Daddy brought Kasey!" Arkon and Cornel also greeted their pet with delight.

" _It_ is a Norcog." Supplied another unfamiliar voice with a laugh. The speaker was a boy standing next to Emoth. Though a few centimeters shorter and with slightly lighter hair the two wore identical mischievous grins. "Northern breed of the Onderonian cognine." He expounded.

"Sort of like a Mandalorian strill?" she asked. If Emoth was anything to go by, she definitely wanted to be on the good side of this one now that 'double trouble', as she knew the rest of the family referred to the cousins, were reunited.

"A bit." the boy shrugged. "Cogs spend their infancy in their mother's pouch, they only have 4 legs in stead of 6 like the strill and they can't fly, though they are excellent swimmers. This breed starts out small as your fist but Kasey here's only two standard years old. He still has a bit of growing left to do."

Soniee nodded taking in the information then she extended her hand. "You must be the beast master I've heard about. Cade?"

"That's right." He grinned again, shaking her hand.

She turned to the dark haired, brooding one, standing with Kason, next. "And you are... Thias?" She glanced at Kason who nodded grudgingly.

Thias bent over her hand and kissed it. "And you, my dear, are every bit as beautiful as my cousin described... Ow!" He laughed as Kason elbowed him once again.

Soniee couldn't help laughing as well.

"Boys." Shara rolled her eyes and brought forward the older gentleman. "I am sorry for earlier. This is my husband Captian Jamos Blackwell."

"Captian." Soniee sobered and gave a slight curtsy. The Blackwells were a noble house after all.

"Now, none of that." He wasn't that old she realized, when he grinned a little boy smile that belied his graying hair. "Call me Jamos or Uncle Jamos or Dad." He shot a look over at his oldest son and gave Soniee a teasing wink. Then he looked back at his wife.

The way they gazed at each other made Soniee even more uncomfortable than when she had caught them earlier in the kitchen. Korkie used to look at her that way. She remembered the way he couldn't keep his hands off her, either. She and Korkie were supposed to grow old together, like these two. But he'd named her _cuy'val dar_. Was that any better than _dar'riduur_? She was dead to him. How could an official divorce make anything more plain?

"Dara?" Another unfamiliar voice broke into her train of thought. She turned and saw the girl who had been sleeping on the couch when she entered the house. "That's your name right?"

Soniee nodded.

The girl smiled and it lit up her face like a Coruscant night. There was an open friendliness in her eyes that more than made up for the broken nose and crooked teeth. "I'm Dalla."

Soniee had the feeling she had just met a kindred spirit.

* * *

Coming soon: Polaris, the tale of the Blackwells of Blackhold and the Onderonian Northern Sea.  
spin off novel co-authored by Lux's Sister.


	12. recognition

Soniee is in a constant state of worry that someone will recognize her. It would be such a relief just to be honest with someone.

* * *

"I still can't believe Saw set up his new base in the tunnels." Dalla said while the two girls walked along the streets of Iziz toward the nearest entrance. Soniee was more sure of the way now but Dalla also seemed somewhat familiar with their route.

"Well, I don't know about a base." Soniee frowned. "He's been running sort of a charity organization taking in refugees..."

Dalla laughed. "Saw a philanthropist? That I find hard to believe. Still he must have some reason for it all." She drifted off into a mumble. "Maybe something deeper down." Then she perked up again and asked. "It doesn't bother you, then?"

"Bother me?"

"Staying down there. We all thought it was pretty creepy just passing through."

"I thought it was only me," Soniee said softly. Of course she'd felt the heaviness, the pull seeming to draw her deeper into the catacombs. She hadn't mentioned it, thinking it would make her Force sensitivity more apparent. "They were once used as some sort of burial chambers, right?"

"Aye. We all felt it." Dalla assured her. "Ahsoka advised Saw not to use the tunnels for anything other than an escape route. Hope he knows what he's doing."

Soniee's head snapped up. "You knew Ahsoka?"

Dalla looked at her curiously.

"I mean..." She backpedaled. "Saw told me that you all worked with a Jedi. That was her name wasn't it? Ahsoka?"

"Aye." Dalla seemed to drop once again into a memory. "She was friends with Lux Bonteri. I don't know if we would have had the help of the Jedi if it hadn't been for their connection."

"He's coming home you know? One of the girls mentioned it." Soniee rambled, trying not to say too much and give away her own connection to the senator. "I guess you'll be glad to see him? Saw, not so much."

"Aye. I've heard." The northern girl's wry smile returned. "He's the reason we all came down south. Well, that and I don't think Uncle Jamos could have lasted another galactic standard second without seeing Aunt Shara. I'm supposed to be the official representative of House Blackwell at the ball they're throwing in his honor."

Soniee flinched slightly at the word 'representative'. "And Saw is attending for House Kira?"

Again Dalla frowned at her. "Saw told you he was descended from the Kira line?"

"Well, no... it was... Werda Flint actually."

"Werda's still around?" Dalla grinned.

"Yeah she..." Soniee was glad of the subject change but her new friend was not going to let her off so easily.

"You seem to have gotten awfully friendly with Saw Gerrera in the short time you've been on Onderon."

Soniee rolled her eyes. "Friendly. That's the word. I assure you, Saw and I are just friends. I appreciate him finding me a place to stay and introducing me to your aunt so I can learn the language. He's nice." She shrugged. "But we're not going to the ball together or anything."

"He asked you!" Dalla realized at once.

Soniee sighed resignedly. "On bended knee."

"Salt gods! Dara, you should go with him!"

"I - I can't."

"Why not?" Dalla asked. "You said your mother was from Onderon. You have as much a right to be there as anyone else."

"No, I..." Soniee turned the question around. "You should go with him. You two were betrothed or something, weren't you?"

It was Dalla's turn for an eye roll and she groaned. "That story hasn't gotten around, has it?" She was on the brink of explaining what had happened from her own point of view when they heard a voice echoing up from the tunnel entrance they had just reached in their walk.

The 'Da' at the beginning of the reverberating syllables was plain, as was the 'ah' at the end, but what with the acoustics of the chamber and the flipped Onderonian 'r' the speaker should have been shouting for either of them.

Dalla and Dara both called out an answer at once. "Aye!" "Elek!" They looked at each other and laughed. Then Werda Flint bowled into them attacking Dalla with a welcoming hug.

"You're here! I knew you'd come! And Dara! So you two have already met! Great! Maybe you can convince her that she needs to go to the ball! I'll go tell Saw you're here!" Then she was off down the tunnel like a shot, singing the news as she went. And again the echoes from the corridors made it impossible to tell who's presence she was announcing.

"I didn't realize how similar our names were." Dalla laughed. "That's going to make things interesting while were both staying here."

Soniee made a snap decision. She just instinctively felt that she could trust her new friend. "It's not even my real name."

"I admit I wondered about that." Dalla's tone grew more serious as if she knew the delicate nature of the information she was being entrusted with.

"Of course." Soniee threw up her hands. "You probably recognized me straight away as well. Your aunt thought I looked familiar the first time we met and one of the girls in the dorm already guessed. Kason seems to think he's got me all figured out and Saw..." She sighed. "I think Saw's known from the first time he laid eyes on me."

"Umm..." Dalla placed a calming hand on her arm. "I don't know about familiar. I just thought you must be trying to make a new start. New planet? New name?"

"You mean to tell me that... I don't remind you of anyone?" Soniee asked, disbelieving.

Dalla gave her a look over and then shook her head. "No one specifically that I can think of. Should I? Look, Dara... or... whatever your name is, I'm sure you had a good reason for keeping your identity a secret but... if you want to tell me... I swear to the salt gods, I would never reveal your secret."

Soniee closed her eyes. All she felt through the Force from this girl she hardly knew was truth and loyalty. She took a deep breath, looked both ways down the corridor and then whispered, "My name is Soniee Ordo. A couple of years ago I was the Mandalorian representative to the Republic Senate."

It took a moment for the northern girl to register what she had said. Then Dalla's eyes opened wide. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Salt gods! You and Lux..."

Soniee panacked, "No! No, it was nothing like that. You can't believe everything from the gossip holos. We never..."

"You didn't escape Coruscant to hide away and have his love child." Dalla smirked.

"No." Soniee blushed. "I couldn't. When Lux and I met... I was engaged to someone else. Someone who's identity needed to be kept secret."

"So Lux played along to help you out?" The humor in her eyes melted into true compassion.

Soniee nodded.

"We wondered, because it seemed so soon after Steela..." Dalla broke off and then continued with an honest smile. "Sounds a little like Saw and me with my infamous betrothal, only mine was not kept secret and it was in no way wanted."

"Werda said he was a real Sleemo," said Soniee.

Dalla sneered, remembering. "He was." She shuddered and then as Soniee had sometimes seen Shara do, Dalla touched her thumb to her lips and then held out the palm of her hand. "Thank the salt gods he's gone, him and his whole family. They'll never bother us again."

"His whole family," Soniee muttered. Her whole family was gone too.

"You loved him," Dalla guessed. "Your betrothed. You left Coruscant to be with him?"

Soniee nodded. She didn't seem to need to speak. The other girl read her so easily, like a Jedi mind trick.

"And you married him in secret? Only your closest friends knew."

Or perhaps Soniee was projecting. She'd been known to do that on occasion. Maybe it was this place so close to the... whatever it was, deep under the city. Her hand went to the crystal pendant that was tucked under the neck of her shirt and her eyes rose to meet the other girl's.

Then for a moment Soniee saw not Dalla's face, but what the other girl was seeing. There were Soniee's own despairing green eyes and then a memory of another pair of almost identical green eyes. They were older but sad, so sad, as if the owner of those eyes had lost everything.

The moment broke when another voice called to one or both or either of them from further down the tunnel. It was much deeper than Werda's voice. The two girls smiled at each other just before Saw Gerrera bounded around the corner.

He lifted Dalla off her feet and swung her around. "Welcome, Lady Blackwell! My beautiful wife finally returned to me from the far north!"

Dalla laughed. "I do hope you kept that spot on the couch warm for me."

"If it's cooled down, I'm sure we could warm it up again." He gave her a playful growl.

Soniee knew that they were only joking and she wasn't jealous. She couldn't be. Still, their easy flirtation still made her uncomfortable. She backed away a few paces and called out to be heard over their laughter, "I'll just let you two catch up. I'm sure you've got lots to do to get ready for the ball. You should go together. I'll just... you can tell me all about it after." And then before they could stop her she ran off down the tunnel.

When she reached the dorm none of the other girls were there. Soniee was glad she didn't have to go through an explanation of everything that had happened that morning. Soon enough though the place would be bustling. Saw would show Dalla the way down here and Werda would be back with Myat to get her settled.

Soniee grabbed her holonotebook and her mother's journal. For the first time in a long time she thought of her old display visor that she used to pull down over her eyes to escape the boys' arguments about their favorite _meshgeroya_ teams or one of Lagos's diatribes on fashion, or just the endless noise of the academy. She missed that old thing. She missed those voices too...

She did still have her buy'ce stored on her ship. That would serve the same function but it would also give away more than anything the identity she needed to protect. Maybe that's what Saw had recognized when she first arrived. But no. It was after she'd removed it, when he saw her face...

Soniee sighed. She needed some air. There was one thing good about resembling her Onderonian parents. She could most likely fade into the crowd in the city above.

That's what she was planning to do now. She marched straight to the nearest tapcaf, ordered a drink and sat down to get to work.

Where had she left off? Melaana's parents had begun betrothal negotiations. It was someone closer to her own age, just a few years older. He and his parents were going to arrive in the morning for an official introduction and to discuss how the courtship would proceed. And the name of the family was...

"Soniee?"

Her head jerked up automatically. She should have ignored it, pretended that she didn't know who the speaker was talking to. She only realized after that no one should have known her by that name, other than Chi'ann who couldn't speak and Dalla who's voice wasn't anything like that warm tenor.

"Lux."


	13. reunited

Months ago when I set out planing the plot of the Ashla Awareness I had a scene in my mind of Lux and Soniee meeting in a tapcaf on Onderon after not seeing each other for years. I had just the vaguest idea then of their parent's acquaintance. It's so fun to see this chapter finally come to light!

* * *

She stood and offered him an awkward smile. He'd recognized her. There was nothing she could do about it now.

Lux, for his part, bounded across the restaurant and embraced her. Then he leaned back and looked her over again and placed a hand on her cheek as if she might slip away like the steam from the caf pots on the tables. "I thought you were dead."

She took his hand away from her face and chuckled brokenly. "I had a couple of close calls, but no, still alive and kicking."

"I can't tell you how glad I am to see you. After we heard about Concord Dawn..."

Soniee shook her head and then looked around to see if they were being observed. The other patrons seemed to have gone back to their drinks.

One waitress caught her eye and Soniee motioned for her to bring them another cup of caf. Then she indicated the chair opposite her own for Lux to sit and he did. Sitting and not looking him directly in the eye, she explained. "I wasn't on the planet when it happened. But... my Momma..." She tried not to give in to tears. "You met her at the graduation. She and my Ba'buir..."

"Oh, Soniee, I'm so sorry." He reached for her hand across the table at the exact moment the waitress placed down his caf and nearly toppled the hot drink.

There was a frantic moment of apology and thanks and mopping up the small spill. With the crisis averted and the waitress returned to the counter, Soniee informed him. "I'm going by Dara now."

"Dara?" Lux gave her a confused frown, but then he nodded acceptance. "So is Korkie here? Our first meeting was rather strained." He smiled and then went on excitedly. "And gods, Son-er-Dara, the baby! You were expecting!"

Again she gave him a sorrowful shake of her head and this time the tears did come. She had never related the tale to anyone before. "He... he came early. I couldn't save him. My own life was in danger... He... I never even got to see him." She wadded up a stack of flimzy napkins and dabbed at her eyes.

"I had no idea." Lux's voice was full of compassion.

"Not many people did." She sniffed. "It was right at the same time that the Empire... They knew what I was... Korkie thought it would be better if everyone assumed that I had... died along with the baby."

He was silent, taking it all in, and then he said softly. "The new name? Coming here..."

She nodded, composing herself. "Of course, you know I've always wanted to come here and look up my parents so now I... had the excuse."

Lux took a distracted sip of his caf. He didn't have the words or perhaps he was just honoring her unspoken wish to move on to a more positive subject here in such a public place. "So... have you discovered anything?"

Soniee took a deep breath. "I have. You remember Papanoida who we met at the play?"

"He sought me out after he heard about Concord Dawn." Lux told her. "Offered his condolences."

"Well it turns out..." Her smile broke through. "My mother was his Onderonian Princess."

"Seriously?"

She nodded placing her hand on the book that was lying next to her holonotebook on the table. "It's all in her journal."

"You've had it translated, then?"

"I'm learning to translate it myself." Soniee said proudly.

"You found someone to teach you?" He was happy for her.

Soniee gave him a knowing smile. "Your friend Saw introduced me to Shara Blackwell."

"You've met Shara!" Lux shook his head and then rolled his eyes. "And Saw. I'm sure he's thrilled I've come home to Onderon," he added sarcastically.

She nodded curiously. "He thinks you gave away information to the Empire."

"Of course, I didn't!" He frowned angrily and the sighed. "But what else is he supposed to think? They did find out about the old Rebellion bases somehow."

Soniee had a sudden flash of inspiration. "Could they have... broken one of the Jedi? Someone who was here during the war? Someone they captured during the purge?"

Lux looked thoughtful. "Ahsoka was here." He seemed to discount her as a possibility immediately. "And Kenobi..." Again he shook his head. The whereabouts of Soniee's father-in-law were unknown, but surely the empire would have reveled in his capture and she was sure he would never give away a secret he was bound to keep.

Lux continued, "... And Skywalker."

No one knew what had become of him. Soniee smiled wistfully. What did it matter if she said it now? "He was in love with Padme."

"Maybe that's..." Lux started and then the glint in his eye reminded her of when they used to speculate over the holozines back on Coruscant. "She was pregnant. Did you know?"

"With Skywalker's child?"

Lux shrugged. "Most people figured Rush Clovis was the father. She worked with him on Scipio about the time you left and they were known to have had a relationship."

"Hmmm..." Soniee mused. "No. My credits would be on Skywalker. If you'd seen the two of them together... Was it ever explained what happened to her? I saw the holos from Naboo of the state funeral."

"I believe the story going around was similar to yours, something about the baby coming too soon."

She nodded and they were both quiet for a time.

After a while Lux spoke again. "So, Son-er-Dara, what else have you learned about your mother?"

"Well." She grinned. "I was just getting to an interesting bit about her family beginning betrothal negotiations."

"Oh? Who was the lucky guy?" Lux asked.

"That's the interesting bit. It was a Lieutenant by the name of... Dane Bonteri."

His mouth dropped open. "You can't be serious!"

She laughed. "I am. I know. It's preposterous!"

"My dad was betrothed to your mom!" He was smiling until all the blood drained from his face. "So we really could be... half..."

"No." She answered seriously. "Just going by how she handled Papanoida, if she found out you were on the way, she would have put a stop to it."

"But what if she didn't know? What if that's why she left Onderon?"

Soniee bit her lip and then shook her head again. "I don't think so. For one, I've never gotten the... sense that you and I were related. But also, well, you grew up with your dad. You and I, our lifedays are only a couple of months apart. Do you really think your dad would have been capable of..."

Lux's eyebrows knit together. "He loved my mother very much and she loved him." He smiled again. "No. I can't say it's terribly likely that he fathered us both."

"I have my suspicions who my father might have been." Soniee fingered the cover of the journal. "There were some letters tucked in among the pages. I think they may have been from... him."

"But you haven't translated any of those yet?" he asked.

Soniee sighed. "No, I haven't. I don't think she's met him yet in the section that I've read." She rolled her eyes. "Looking ahead seemed like cheating."

Lux laughed. He slapped the palms of his hands down on the table top. "Well, if you are quite sure we aren't related, why don't you go to the ball with me?"

"Oh, I couldn't. I wasn't planning on going at all."

"Has someone else already asked you?" he inquired, eyebrows raised.

She smirked. "There's this senator who's supposed to be attending. I knew him once. If he recognized me, my identity might be blown to Haran."

"It's a masquerade. Didn't you know?" Lux grinned. "He'll never know."

"I..." she hedged but that really had been her only reason. "The theme... the old houses. I don't know what my father's house was."

"You know your mother's house though?"

"I do." Soniee couldn't believe she was actually considering this. "I think it must have died out with her. I haven't seen any of the banners around Iziz."

"Well, what better opportunity to resurrect one of the old houses?"

"I guess so." She acquiesced.

Lux took her hand. "Come on, Dara." He winked at her remembered pseudonym. "Say you'll go with me?"

"I..." her mouth worked to form a refusal but then she let out a sigh. "Alright... Yes."

"Yes? Yes!" Lux squeezed her hand and then impulsively leaned across the table and kissed her cheek. "You've no idea how happy this makes me. I was really dreading the whole event. And I promise, I would never give you away."

She nodded, knowing he never would intentionally.

"It's not really about your identity, is it?" he asked softly. "It's about what you are, what you can do."

Her gaze lowered to the table top. "Ahsoka wasn't even a member of the Order any longer and the clone troopers went after her without question, men ho had been completely loyal to her before. And I've heard rumors that now they have these... inquisitors."

"I won't let that happen to you." Lux assured her, squeezing her hand again.

"Thank you, Lux." Though how he would stop it if someone did find out, she had no idea.

He smirked. "I could never let anything happen to my little sister."

* * *

Several Galactic standard minutes later Soniee found herself walking quickly down the streets of Iziz to the space dock where her B-7 freighter was parked. Surely LEP-1K0 could come up with something for her to wear in the red and black colors of her mother's house. And then she saw something in the window of a resale shop that brought her up short.

She had never seen anything resembling the banner that Melaana had described as belonging to the Rash family. But there it was, and surely 1K0 could incorporate it somehow into her dress.

Soniee entered the shop and looked again at the window display. Then she raced to the business counter to find the proprietor.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked her.

"How much for the black serpent in the window?"

The woman stared at her in shock.

Soniee frowned. "You know the one I'm talking about?"

"Why would you want that old thing?"

"I think I have a use for it." Soniee told her.

The woman shrugged. "Alright." She led Soniee up to the front of the store and took the black metal object from the display. She looked at it, shook her head, and then handed it to Soniee. "If you think you've got a use for it, you can have it."

"Really? Thank you!" Soniee walked out of the shop smiling, with the symbol of her mother's house clenched tight in her hands.

* * *

the story 'Polaris' that I'm co-authoring with Lux's Sister takes place 2 and 20 years before the events of this one. it can be read side by side with this one without any really terrible spoilers. also the forum that L.S. and I have set up to give more information about the 'Polaris' universe applies to this story as well.  
myforums/DuchessKenobi/272031/


	14. Cinderella

So Soniee gets to go to the ball after all, with a little help from her uh... fairy driod mother.

This chapter is dedicated to Brian Dixon who I only went to prom with because the mutual friend I set him up with got grounded at the last minute.

* * *

Soniee wasn't paying much attention to the street traffic as she raced from the resale shop to the spaceport. She let the Force guide her around potholes and obstacles as she had always done. She almost took it for granted. Walking backwards down an academy or Senate hallway, or with her display visor pulled down over her eyes, it was really second nature.

And now she couldn't take her eyes off the ebony serpent in her hand. It must have been some sort of decoration. Perhaps it had once hung on a wall or a door to let everyone know the identity of the family who resided in that place. It was a little less than half a meter from its bent head curving down to its pointed tail, and clearly not meant to be worn. Oh well, 1K0 would think of something. Perhaps down her back…

"Nessa don't run into the…"

The collision was sudden and completely unexpected. The sturdy, gray-haired gentleman Soniee had plowed into, put a hand on her shoulder but looked past her for a tense moment to make sure that the round little woman who must have been his wife, grabbed hold of their little girl before she ran into the path of an oncoming speeder.

"Nessa Sharaline Tandin, you listen to your Papa! He knows this big city and he's tryin' to keep you in one piece." The woman chided her daughter.

Soniee couldn't help but notice the expression of relief on the face of the gentleman, but she also sensed a measure of pride at being called father. He didn't look at all like the reedy little girl but he had definitely accepted the mantle of responsibility for her.

Sure his charge was well in hand, he turned his attention back to Soniee. He gave her shoulder an awkward pat. "Are you quite alright, Miss?" He stood to his full height not much taller than Soniee herself and clasped his hands behind his back at military rest.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you." Soniee assured him. "And your… daughter?"

He beamed with pride, glancing back at the woman and girl. "It's her first time in Iziz and her mother's." When he turned and really looked at Soniee again she saw it, that same recognition.

"I'm a fairly recent arrival myself," she attempted to forestall the 'you look familiar' conversation. "... but I have managed to learn my way around if you need directions."

"No. No that won't be necessary." He smiled beneath his bushy mustache. "I was born and raised here. My name is Gen- I'm sorry, Grigori Tandin. You'll excuse an old campaigner. Haven't quite gotten used to the civilian life. This is my wife, Maris." He put his arm around the woman who had just bustled over to them.

Maris nodded with a loving smile at her husband.

"And this is her…"

"Our." Maris corrected him.

"Our…" he gazed with wonder at his bride and then cleared his throat bringing himself back down to the planet's surface. "Nessa. Our daughter, Nessa."

Nessa gave Soniee the briefest of polite smiles. "Papa, can we go and see Lana now."

"We'll go soon, my dear."

Soniee thought of how close she had been to her own adopted mother and then of the real mother who's house symbol she had clutched in her hand. She attempted to introduce herself in her best Onderon accent. "I'm Dara." The flipped 'r' still felt foreign on her tongue.

"Dalla?" Maris asked. "We know a Dalla just about your age."

"No it's Dara actually." She reverted to the more comfortable Concordian rolled 'r'. And then putting that information together with the mention of the name Lana, she deduced. "You don't mean Dalla Blackwell? I only met her just this morning but we've already had our names confused."

"The very one." Grigori Tandin marveled. "Isn't it a small galaxy? Though, you must excuse me, but are you sure we've never met? Dara…" he considered the name. "You do look very familiar to me."

"I get that a lot." Soniee admitted. "My mother was from Onderon. I'm dressing in her house colors at the ball tonight. Oh but if you please, could you not mention that to the Blackwells, if you see them? I thought I wasn't going to be able to go. So it will be a bit of a surprise."

"I wouldn't dream of it." The gentleman smiled.

"Well, goodbye." She skipped off and waved, holding up the serpent just for a brief second.

She didn't see his moment of recognition or hear his panicked whisper, "Salt gods! It's Sanjay's lost niece!"

* * *

Soniee had to catch LEP-1K0 up on everything that had been going on for the last couple of months while the droid had been powered down. She rambled at length about the people she'd met and the things she'd seen and what she had learned from the journal.

All the while 1K0 listened attentively and worked on her alterations of a red satin gown that had once belonged to the Duchess of Mandalore. "And you believe your mother may have had a relationship with the father of Senator Lux Bonteri?" 1K0 asked.

"They were going to be betrothed." Soniee was still catching her breath after her long exposition. "I didn't want to skip to the end to find out what happened. That seemed like cheating."

1K0 hummed, processing the information. "I wouldn't suspect you'd have to skip to the very end, Mistress Soniee. Nine months before the end would be more illuminating of the knowledge you seek."

Now why hadn't she thought of that? The journal did conclude on the date of Soniee's own birth. If she knew who Melaana was with nine months before…

Instead of going back to the journal, Soniee had a sudden inspiration. She went to the compartment where she had hidden the letters that she had found along with her mother's precious manuscript. She traced the name signed in Aurebesh on the bottom of one of the pages, "Bremon". Then flipped through the letters to find the one dated as close to nine months before her birth as possible.

"This might be it." She held up the letter to show 1K0 as she returned to the cabin where the droid was just laying aside the finished dress.

"Excellent!" 1K0 beeped with excitement. "I'll arrange your hair while you translate the document."

Soniee sat and allowed the droid to get to work. She took a deep fortifying breath and then began. "My Dearest Mel…"

"That sounds like a promising clue to the identity of your father."

"It does." Soniee nodded.

"Though if you will please hold your head still, it will make my job much easier."

"Sorry, Iko." She laughed and returned to the letter. "My Dearest Mel, don't worry about a thing. It's all been settled. You only have to be in our clearing at ten and bring your brother to be your family's representative witness. Uncle Nadd has agreed to officiate our wedding…"

"Their wedding!" The droid sounded as excited as Soniee felt.

"I knew it! I've found him, Iko! Bremon must have been my father! I must have been conceived on their honeymoon! I knew it couldn't have been Lux's father."

"Read on, Mistress Soniee."

"Uncle Nadd has agreed to officiate our wedding." She repeated and went on. "So he will also stand in as the representative witness of House... Kira." She stopped and couldn't go on any further.

"Are you quite alright, Mistress?"

"He was a Kira." Soniee breathed, thinking about her dreams of Oron and Galia. In a way it made sense but it was still a huge revelation. "I'm… my name is Sanya Kira." This time the Ondronian pronunciation flowed naturally from her lips almost as if she could remember someone else lovingly bestowing the title upon her.

She couldn't ruminate for long however. 1K0's frustrated whistle brought her back to the present. "I suppose I shall have to construct a new dress for the ball to represent your correct Clan designation."

"No, Iko, the dress you've made is beautiful!" Soniee assured the droid. "I'm going to honor my mother tonight and I couldn't have done it without you."

"Oh well, Mistress." 1K0 dithered humbly. "I was only following my directive."

* * *

The city had changed. Not so much that the former General of the planet's militia couldn't find his way around. The streets were the same and most of the buildings, with the notable absence of the Rash Estate that had been burned to the ground by some over enthusiastic rebels at the end of their Clone War battles.

No, it was the feel of the place. The Empire had come to Onderon, not in great force yet, but there were storm troopers patrolling the streets. And though Iziz had never been particularly prejudice against non humans, the place seemed to be teaming with all sorts of species now. Maris had already reminded Nessa that it was not polite to point.

And maybe that was it. Maybe after two years in the more sparsely populated north, he was seeing the city again through the innocent eyes of his wife and daughter. As they walked he pointed out to them the old Militia guardhouse that he had called home for so long, the marketplace where Shara's father had once had a produce stall, and the glorious palace where the ball would be held tonight.

Finally they reached the old Gerrera place and Tandin could almost picture Geb out front working at his forge. There was a little boy at the worktable now, one of Shara's, and Nessa ran to him. "Whatcha workin' on, Cornel?"

"It's a boat." He didn't speak often to adults but he must have felt safe conversing with his baby sister's best friend.

"That looks like Ephraim's new ship." Maris noticed, smiling at the boy.

He didn't make eye contact but he nodded. " _Miranda's Revenge_." He laid down his tools in precise parallel lines. "Lana's inside." He told Nessa and didn't object when she grabbed his hand.

"Come on, then. Show me." She dragged him towards the door.

The adults followed, into the chaos that any building containing more than a handful of Blackwells was likely to exude. Maris went right to work corralling the little ones. This left the former general to find his own way.

He discovered Jamos in one of the bedrooms teaching his and Marlon's eldest boys how to tie their ties for the big event. Grigori laughed. He hadn't known the sea captain even knew how to do that himself. Shara must have taught him.

Jamos noticed the laugh and looked up at the other man in the mirror. "Ah, Tandin. You and the missus have arrived!"

"Yes, Maris already has your crew well in hand."

Jamos frowned. While he was distracted with the greeting, his fingers had gotten tangled in his own tie. "If this damn thing was a bowline I wouldn't be having any trouble at all."

Thias, Marlon's boy, finished up with his tie first and turned to give Tandin a smart salute. "General."

"At ease." He laughed again and then went to help Kason finish with his neckwear.

Kason gratefully gave over the strip of cloth to the older man. "It'll be strange being back at the palace again, won't it sir?"

"It will." Tandin remembered when he had first met the boy who had stowed away in his boat and gotten himself captured by King Rash.

"Do you remember the picture of the princess in the hall?" Kason asked excitedly.

"The pic..." Tandin had to think for a moment and then he thought he knew what the boy meant.

"There's a girl in Iziz who looks just like her! I wanted to ask her to the ball but Saw beat me to it." Kason frowned and then perked up a bit. "She's not going with him either, though."

Tandin thought of the girl he'd run into in the street. She did look very much like the portrait that had hung outside the throne room when Rash was king. He had told her he wouldn't tell the Blackwells that she would be attending the ball but... "Is Shara about? I was meaning to ask her something." He inquired of Jamos.

The Captain had just managed to secure his own tie and smiled with satisfaction. "She's in the other bedroom with Dalla. They're doing hair or nails or something."

Tandin nodded and made his way, wondering all the while what he would say to them. The door to the master bedroom was slightly a jar when he reached it. He didn't want to eavesdrop but he did catch part of the conversation between the aunt and her niece.

"So you and Dara have hit it off?"

"Aye." Dalla nodded and Shara re-positioned the girl's head so she could continue braiding.

Shara smiled. "I'm glad. The salt gods have blessed you with some great gal pals but it's... been a long time since we lost Miranda and then Steela."

"Aye." Dalla said again more sadly this time.

"You know I lost my best friend when I was about your age, and then your mother and I were so close." Shara began to twist the braid around Dalla's head and secure it with pins.

"Aunt Shara," Dalla looked intently at the other woman in the mirror. "Dara said you recognized her when you met. Or that... you thought she looked familiar." She bit her lip as if she wasn't sure if she should say any more or not. "She asked me if I recognized her. And I didn't... at first. But then we got to talking and her eyes were so sad. Her eyes reminded me of something Steela once told me about her uncle?"

Tandin couldn't go on standing there listening any longer. He cleared his throat and both of the women looked up in his direction and smiled.

Shara dropped her hands from her finished creation. "Grigori, you've arrived and I assume the fact that my children have calmed somewhat is due to Maris's intervention?"

"I still wish she'd agree to go to the ball at my side but she says it's too fancy an occasion for an old pubkeep."

"Well, I'd try to talk her into it but I really am pleased to have the evening alone with Jamos." Shara laughed.

Dalla was busy frowning at her reflection in the mirror. She patted her hair that had turned out beautifully but her crookedly healed nose and teeth were still an insult to her vanity. She stood and smoothed out the blue synthsilk skirt of her gown.

Shara noticed and hugged her. "Saw is going to be blown away."

"I think he'd rather go with Dara." Dalla sighed. "He asked her first."

"That's only because you just arrived last night."

"He could have commed." She argued back but she was smiling now her regular humor returning. "Anyway they would have been adorable together. I'm thinking once this evening is over, some serious match making is in order. From what Dara said, I believe they've both been alone long enough. They deserve each other. I'll start working on him tonight."

Shara looked at Tandin and rolled her eyes. There was no stopping her niece now.

Just then there was a clamor from the direction of the front door and one of the boys yelled, "Saw's here!"

Shara grabbed a mask from the dressing table and put it into Dalla's hand before she ran out the door. "Have fun."

"I will." She grinned.

Tandin allowed the girl to pass but then thought better of it and laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her, "Dalla, can I speak to you?"

"Well, Saw's here to... but sure. What is it?" she asked patiently.

He plunged right in. "It's your friend Dara."

"What about her?"

"I met her in the city today. I... recognized who she really is." He watched her for a reaction.

"Ah." Dalla nodded. "She told me, also."

Tandin was taken aback. "And you're okay with it?"

"Of course." She assured him. "I mean I understand why she would want to keep the truth hidden but... all that was years ago and she's making a new start."

He grudgingly accepted the answer, still frowning. "Right."

"Look, I'd better not keep Saw waiting."

"Of course." He gave her a slight bow as he stepped back out of her way. He wondered if he should have said more, if he should have warned the girl that her friend was going to be at the ball after all and in House Rash colors. And then Dalla's shout forced the thought from his mind and he ran to see what was the matter.

"I'm not getting on that!" Dalla asserted.

Saw smirked, holding up the dalgo's reigns in his hand. "It's okay just grab one of your aunt's shawls and you'll be good to go. Ooh and get one with a fruit design that'll work even better."

Dalla shrieked backing up further from the animal. "Even if I did, it would still kill me."

Saw assured her, "I wouldn't let it kill you. Mainly because I don't want to explain it to your dad. 'Hello, Lord Marlon. I picked your daughter up for a ball and the dalgos killed her on the way. Please don't come after me with a blaster'." He grinned.

The rest of the family had come out to see what the fuss was about and Kason who seemed to have inherited his mother's way with animals went to the creature's head and spoke calming words to it.

"Come on, while Kase has it distracted." Saw urged her forward.

Dalla took tentative steps and then Saw scooped her up as if she weighed no more than a feather and set her on the back of the beast side-saddle in her spotless gown.

"You look great by the way." He told her as he mounted behind her.

"I hate you." She told him. "After this is over. Dara can have you."

* * *

there are a lot of sort of inside jokes from the story Polaris in this chapter. or there will be since Dalla won't officially be introduced to Saw and Steela till the end of the week. ;)


	15. The Prince is Giving a Ball

Thank you to everyone who has patiently awaited the arrival of this chapter and a special thanks to Lux's Sister who's encouragement and organizational abilities helped make it happen.

The masquerade ball has finally begun and Lux is glad for a friendly (if partially obscured) face in the crowd.

* * *

He paced and fidgeted and watched expectantly as each new person or group entered the grand ballroom of the palace of Iziz and their names were announced. Finally King Ramsis Dendup laid a hand on his arm. "Calm yourself. You're making me nervous, stalking around like a Drexl." The old man laughed.

"Sorry, Your Majesty." Lux Bonteri took a deep breath and attempted to follow his sovereign's orders. It was no use. He couldn't be calm. Why had he suggested this blasted thing be a masquerade? His own flimsiplast facial covering was itchy and hot.

"You have nothing to worry about." The king tried again. "The announcement will be made after the traditional performance of Princess Galia's Waltz."

Was that supposed to be ironic, placing the moment he dreaded most, directly after they all celebrated the story of the royal who ran away? "Yes Sir. I am aware of the schedule of events."

"Until then you should get out there and have some fun! Drink! Dance! You're only young once!" Dendup must have been young once, but he certainly didn't look it now. How Lux wished the old man could just live forever. Then none of this would be necessary.

"I will, Your Majesty. My date hasn't arrived yet." Lux turned towards the entry doors again to look for her.

Just then the steward announced, "From the northern sea…"

"Ah it's the Blackwell girl you're waiting for." The king surmised.

"No, actually. It's someone else." Lux sighed and then jumped on the opportunity. "But I really should go and say hello. If you'll excuse me, Your Majesty." He gave Dendup a polite bow before he hurried through the press of the crowd.

By the time he made it across the ballroom Jamos Blackwell had already swept his wife out on the dance floor. Despite his salt-white beard and peppered hair they looked like a couple of teenagers. His hands had the tendency to wander over her navy blue and black gown and she swatted him away with good humor.

Lux sidled his way to a few other friends he recognized from the north. "It looks like the captain and his lady are enjoying their chance to get away from the children."

The red-haired man beside him turned with a grin. "Bonteri!"

"Oof!" Lux endured the tackle hug. He'd forgotten the northerners penchant for violent greetings. Still it was better than a punch in the gut. He'd been on the receiving end of that sort of welcome from Ephraim Harkon the last time they met.

His wife Talia was a little more gentle. "Hello, Lux."

The senator hardly recognized her in the ball gown that darkened in ombre from Harkon pink down to the red of her birth-house, Bralykburn, at the hem. Lux had never seen her in anything but fishing leathers, even days after she had delivered her twins, who had by some strange turn of events become Lux's goddaughters.

"Did you bring the girls down?" He asked glad for a chance to see them.

"Aye," Ephraim assured him. "They're at the old Gerrera place with the Blackwell bunch."

"That sounds dangerous." Lux laughed.

"The missus will have them well in hand," said another familiar voice.

Lux turned, excitedly to the speaker. "General Tandin!"

"No no, I'm retired now. It's just Grigori." He shook Lux's hand.

"And you managed to get Maris down here with you?" The senator asked with a smile.

"To the city but not inside the palace. Still I'm glad of the opportunity to show she and Nessa the sights."

Just then Lux noticed a disturbance by the entrance. He didn't want to leave his friends but it seemed necessary. "If you'll excuse me." He nodded politely before he moved to the door.

The steward was checking his datapad for a name while two young men argued with him.

"I thought you said you couldn't come?" One of the boys asked someone who was still outside.

The other boy was looking over the steward's shoulder at the list. "Maybe that's why he can't find her name." This boy noticed Lux first. "Hey, Bonteri! Man of the hour! You can get this straightened out."

"Hello Thias." Lux shook the boy's hand and then welcomed his cousin. "And Kason. Is there some kind of trouble?"

"Hey Lux! Aye, our friend Dara can't seem to get in." Kason stepped out of the way to reveal the girl who was just behind him on the threshold.

And there stood Soniee. Lux had seen her dolled up for parties and concerts and plays back when they'd spent time together on Coruscant but tonight she looked resplendent in a red gown with a short black cape wrapped around her shoulders. "Hello," she said softly.

"Lux, this is Dara. Dara, Lux Bonteri." Kason made the unnecessary introduction.

Well, that solved the problem of explaining how they knew each other and protected her identity for a little longer. "It's very nice to meet you. Dara, was it?" He gave her a formal bow.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Bonteri." She offered her hand and he kissed it.

Kason looked more than a little put out and offered his arm to escort her.

The steward however said. "No, I'm sorry I don't see the name Dara anywhere on the list. What was your family name, Miss?"

"Don't worry about that." Lux told him, as he removed his mask and the harried servant realized who was speaking. "We'll just say she's my personal guest."

"Of course, my lord!" The man bowed.

Thias grinned. "Sure helps to know the founder of the feast."

Kason cleared his throat and gestured with his proffered arm again. "Dara?"

"Oh I…" she began but Lux saved her by offering his own arm.

"Kason, you wouldn't mind terribly if I showed the lady around? That is, if she'll allow me?"

She curtsied as she took his arm. "It would be an honor, my lord."

As they walked away they could hear Kason muttering, "Salt gods. First Saw and now him?"

"Kase!" His cousin laughed. "You're 15! She is soooo out of your league!"

Soniee hid a laugh behind her hand and adjusted the lacy black mask the covered the top portion of her face.

"I'm glad you were able to make it," Lux told her sincerely, replacing his own mask.

"I am, too." They had developed a level of comfort and camaraderie on Coruscant and they fell easily into that again now. "Do you think this is really what it was like when my mother and your father attended balls together so long ago?"

He nodded. "It was probably something very like this. Although," he grinned. "I doubt your mother could have looked any more beautiful in that dress."

She blushed prettily at the compliment but she blew it off. "Why this old thing? I only wear it when I don't care how I look."

"Another remake of the Duchess's?" He asked a little softer and closer to her ear so that no one else could hear.

"Mmhm." She agreed with a laugh. "1K0 pulled off another miracle."

"You still have that mad droid?"

" _Elek_ , left her powered down and stowed away on my ship most of the time I've been here, but she did come in handy for tonight."

The orchestra started up a new song and Soniee turned to watch as couples shuffled and joined and took their position for the next dance. She seemed content to observe so Lux didn't ask her to join in. Instead he took the opportunity to observe her.

Red. She had told him she would be wearing the colors of her mother's house and now he wracked his brain to try to think of what that might have been. Another clue: their parents had known each other. Their grandparents had been involved in betrothal negotiations.

Lux barely remembered his Bonteri grandparents but he knew they were proud of their position in society. He couldn't imagine that they would marry off their only son to someone who wasn't of a similar standing. Perhaps it was a northern house. He knew the Bralykburns flew a red banner with a blue stream…

"Look, Lux." She pointed and he followed the gesture. "Saw and Dalla just arrived. We should go and say hello."

Saw was dressed in Kira blue and gold and led the northern Lady confidently but he didn't look happy to see Lux. He squinted at the girl in red and seemed to be trying to work out who she was.

Lux hedged, "Let's… ah… look they're dancing now. We can speak to them later on."

Soniee frowned at him. "What happened between you two?"

"You want the long version or the short?" He sighed.

"Which version will allow you to avoid him longer?" She offered sarcastically.

He gave a guilty laugh. "Where should I begin? You know about the rebellion and what happened to his sister and the Empire." As he mentioned each of these things his expression cycled through a whole spectrum of emotions.

"Before that your parents were friends with his, isn't that true?" She led.

"Yes."

"Your mother was a senator and your father was in the military." She remembered from previous conversations.

"That's right and the Gerreras were just civilians, beast riders, but they lived in the city, the house where the Blackwells are staying now actually."

She nodded. "So you grew up together?"

"No, not exactly. My childhood was divided between here and Coruscant while my mother was working in the Republic Senate and then when… I didn't understand it at the time of course. She started to see faults in the way the way things were being run."

"She joined the Separatists?" Soniee supplied.

"It wasn't a matter of just switching sides." Lux shrugged. "There were several senators and representatives who were becoming dissatisfied. Even an ex-Jedi."

"Count Dooku?"

"He was a respected noble, lent an air of importance to the cause. He arranged for a series of meetings on Raxus and after attending a few, my mother decided that this was the right direction for Onderon to follow politically."

Soniee nodded. She had studied at the Royal Academy of Government, preparing her for a career in leadership. Even if she didn't know the specifics she understood the process.

"I was transferred to the boarding school there on Raxus where I could be closer to her."

"While your father planned for Onderon's martial protection, knowing that war was coming." She understood.

"Exactly. They both made trips back and forth from here to Raxus. My mother was attempting to convince King Dendup to officially pick a side."

Soniee looked past him, across the ballroom, to where the old man stood. "But she wasn't successful."

Lux knew he should tell her now before the announcement was made in front of everyone but then she spoke again and the moment was gone.

"The Separatists replaced him with someone they could control?"

Lux sighed. "He was a monster just waiting for the chance to take control. He didn't have an heir. Tried to marry Dalla Blackwell and force her to give him one."

Soniee's eyes widened as the story finally came together. "It was him, the puppet king, who she was betrothed to? I guess I had heard that but I didn't realize…"

Lux was running out of time. The announcement would be soon. If he was going to tell her it was now or never. "The problem was Dendup didn't have any children either, or brothers or sisters. He did have a cousin who had a daughter…" he was rambling now trying to get the words out. "But she was busy with her career. Then she married and she had a child…"

Soniee gasped and grabbed his arm. "I know this song! I watched a holo of it. Lux, you and I have to dance to this song."

She broke him from his train of thought. "Galia's Waltz?"

"The Dance of Three Lovers!"

"That's the alternate title, yes. It's an Ondronian legend. But why…"

Soniee shrugged off her cape, setting it aside, and pulled him out towards the dance floor. "I know the story! It's like our parents! Galia was being forced to marry against her will." She assumed the position for the first part of the dance and he placed his hand on her waist as she continued excitedly. "My grandparents were arranging for my mother to marry your father."

They began the steps a bit awkwardly. He spun her away catching sight of some sort of black ornamentation on the back of her dress. But then he was distracted by the attention they had attracted. All eyes in the room seemed to be following the two of them.

He swung her close into his arms again. "But Galia didn't marry her suitor and your mother didn't marry my father."

"No." She smiled. "Because Melaana Rash just like Princess Galia met and fell in love with... a Kira."

"Melaana… Rash!" He was staggered at the name but even if he could have thought of a response, Lux didn't have the chance to get it out. The next movement of the dance had begun and Soniee was swirled away by another partner coincidentally dressed in the colors of House Kira.


	16. Saw Cuts In

In which we witness the rather abrupt ending to the ball. I apologize for the long delay in posting. I've had this almost done for weeks and just haven't had the inspiration to knock out those last few paragraphs. It's such an important moment for Soniee and everyone around her to discover who she really is.

I would like to give a big, huge, enormous thanks to Lux's Sister for helping me out on this one! She took up the pen for a couple of big chunks of this chapter and kicked me into gear to finish the rest of it! and again note that if you like this story and the whole Onderonian mess, please also check out the story that we are jointly writing called 'Polaris'.

* * *

It's not as if Saw was deliberately avoiding the ball. He simply liked to take the scenic route, looping around blocks and down alleyways, the dalgos going at a nice sedate pace. It was a far cry from how he usually rode to clear his head, that usually involved breakneck speeds and daredevil maneuvers, but if he attempted that in the streets of Iziz he'd probably cause an accident and kill his passenger. Dalla was wary enough of the beasts as it was; he didn't need to give her any more reason to dislike them.

Maybe he should have taken his own advice on that accord and not given himself any more reason to dislike Lux Bonteri. He shouldn't even be going to this ball, but it was too late to back out now. Not after he'd agreed to go with Dalla and certainly not on the way to the actual event.

"So," his date spoke up, "Are you going slow so I have to endure this longer or because you're trying to avoid seeing Lux for as long as possible?"

"I'm not going slow."

"I think an insect just passed us."

"Fine!" If Saw wasn't holding the reins he would have thrown up his hands in exasperation. "Maybe I'm not the ball type. Neither are you, so why are you concerned with how fast I'm going?"

Dalla gave him a withering look. "Because this is a royal ball, as in a planetary event which will keep attendance records. We both need to be there as representatives for our families."

Saw reluctantly nudged the dalgos into a quicker pace. "I can't believe this," he spat. "All of this for Bonteri."

"He's -." Dalla bit off the rest of the sentence before she could spill what Lux had shared with her in confidence all those years ago.

Luckily Saw didn't seem to notice. "He's a traitor! He helped the Empire burn down half the planet. How can you defend him?"

"Because he helped save my life." Her voice swung like a sword and Saw didn't dare interrupt her. "I won't forget that, just like I won't forget what you did either."

Saw took a minute to let their rage peter off before he spoke again. "We'll be there soon."

"There are a lot of people there, Saw. You probably won't even have to talk to him."

Saw hoped he didn't, for peace's sake. He wasn't sure he'd be able to contain himself if he did. "Forget about him." He wouldn't, but it would be best if Dalla did. "We don't need him."

"No," she agreed. "For now, all we need is for the dalgos not to kill us."

At the worst possible moment, their mount snorted.

"He won't kill us," He promised for the umpteenth time. Of all the things to be afraid of, she picked dalgos? That was almost as funny as seeing Uncle Brem's little girl afraid to get on Star. Saw smiled just thinking about that. Gods, it was hilarious the tricks the galaxy played.

Dalla looked over her shoulder. "And what are you smiling about?"

He couldn't tell her. "Nothing. Just thinking about someone."

She smirked. "It's Dara, isn't it?"

"And what if it is?"

"Then as your wife I'd have to kick both of you to Dxun and back." All of the sudden her teasing tone dissolved and she continued with genuine warmth: "But as your friend I'm happy for you. If Dara wants to, then go for it."

"I asked her to go with me," Saw mumbled, half hoping his current date didn't hear.

She did. "Aye, she told me. But she said she couldn't go anyway. Like I said when you put me on this living deathtrap, after tonight she can have you. Mind you, I said _after_ tonight. I still have my claws in you a few hours longer."

Saw whooped. "When the chronometer strikes midnight, I'm a free man!"

"Then you'd better get us to that ball before midnight or I'll hold on another day."

...

There were still a few stragglers walking through the palace's main doors when Saw tied the dalgos to a hitching post, and he took it as a victory. "I'm sorry, my lady wife. We're here before midnight. Looks like our marriage is coming to an end."

Dalla held out her arms for him to help her off the beast's back. "So tragic. Get me off this thing and I might not take you to the cleaners in divorce court."

He grabbed her around the waist and set her safely on the ground, being mindful of her gown. The bodice was a soft fabric with many ruffles, and he didn't want to accidentally pull on and tear one.

"You on solid ground?" Sometimes he couldn't tell.

"Aye." She brushed her hands off on her skirt. "So, will we be heading in or do you plan to procrastinate a while longer out here?"

Saw offered his arm and the northern lady took it. "Might as well rip the bacta patch off."

Dalla rolled her eyes. "Quit acting like it's a torture session. It'll be fun."

Saw forced himself to think that he liked dancing, and he really did like drinking. There would be plenty of both tonight, and Dalla wouldn't be a roadblock to either one. Maybe this would be halfway okay.

He scoped out the dance floor while Dalla identified the both of them to the steward at the door. Jamos and Shara caught his attention instantly, acting like a couple of teenagers at a school dance. Further back Lux Bonteri, decked head to toe in Bonteri violet, danced with some young woman who'd been unfortunate or gullible enough to be his partner.

The steward called out Saw's and Dalla's names just as Lux swung his partner around and the girl looked straight at the entrance. She was wearing a mask, but nothing could obscure her identity. Not from him, at least. And apparently not from Dalla either.

"Is that Dara?" she whispered.

Saw didn't answer. Gods, she was beautiful! The red dress went so perfectly with her green eyes, and the way it draped and followed her body…

Saw felt every one of Dalla's fingernails sink into his skin.

"Dance floor," she ordered.

He would have been content to grow roots and stand there staring at Dara until the end of time, but he led Dalla down the steps and onto the dance floor. As soon as the room's eyes were off them, she retracted her claws and took his hands to begin the dance.

Saw cut to the chase. "She came here with Lux?!"

"Looks like it."

"W-why? I thought she couldn't come at all." _Why would she say that, and if she could come then why didn't she go with me?_

"I'm not the HoloNet!" Dalla hissed. "Maybe it was a last-minute thing."

That didn't look like a last-minute dress. If Saw didn't know better he'd say it was tailor-made for her, it fit so perfectly. She was wearing a short black cloak over her shoulders so he couldn't see all of it, but he bet it was just as beautiful.

"Saw, I'd shut your mouth before you start drooling."

Saw did and looked down to the small woman grinning wickedly in front of him.

"You have it bad," she cackled. "I never thought I'd see you lovesick."

"I'm not lovesick."

"Like Dxun you're not."

Time to change the subject. "I still can't believe all this is for Bonteri."

"You mean you can't believe Lux is here with your crush?"

"She's not my crush. What are we, twelve?"

"Saw, never play sabaac. You'll walk away with empty pockets and broken dreams." She smiled and spun him away from Lux and Dara. "If it makes you feel better, she never said anything to me about liking him. She probably just found out she could come tonight and came with Lux so he wouldn't have to go alone. Tomorrow you can still show up at the dorm and ask her out to breakfast. Ooh, or you could go on a rowboat! Then she'll know that your biceps are just for show."

"For show?" Two could play at this game. Returning Dalla's grin he scooped her around the waist and hoisted her into the air. "You still think they're for show?"

Dalla laughed and Saw was sure she was ready to start another round when she spied something in the center of the room and the laughter died in her throat.

"Salt gods! It's…" she whispered.

Saw playfully raised an eyebrow. "What? Has the Lady of the North actually been silenced?"

Dalla didn't respond, still staring at the center of the room. And now that he looked closer, she was getting rather pale…

"Dalla?" Saw lowered her to the ground, playfulness all gone. "Dalla, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I...it's…" She pointed, and Saw followed it and the stares of everyone else in the room to the center of the dance floor.

Lux Bonteri and Dara were dancing, a healthy distance between them and the closest guests. She was smiling and talking to him, like she was relaying a story, but Lux was practically sweating blood. And Saw was pretty sure he knew why: Dara had doffed her cloak, and now he could see the back of her crimson dress was adorned with a black metal serpent.

The sigil of House Rash.

 _Bloody Dxun, this is not good._

"Why is she wearing that?" Dalla gasped. "What in salt gods' halls is she _thinking?"_

Saw had a pretty good idea what Dara was thinking, but he couldn't very well tell Dalla. Instead all he managed was a harried "Uh…"

Just then there was a commotion and a young man's shout of _"Kriff you!"_ from behind. Saw tore his eyes from the disaster on the dance floor just in time to see Thias and Kason Blackwell launch themselves at each other. Never before was Saw so happy to see a fistfight.

"Dalla, your family needs you." She was a ticking time bomb, and Saw couldn't afford to deal with her losing it on top of the current mess. "I'll take care of this -" _somehow_ "- And you go break up the fight. Deal?"

Dalla stared at the serpent a second longer before she shook her head and swallowed hard. "Aye, deal," she said and scurried away toward the brawl.

Saw breathed a sigh of relief that she was alright and out of the way, and then his attention went right back to Dara. She was still so beautiful, even with the serpent writhing down her back. She looked just like Saw's fuzzy memories of Aunt Mel with her wild hair and big smile.

…

"Is this how you remember it, Shar?" Jamos asked. He had to lean close to her ear for her to hear over the music and voices and he took the opportunity to nip at her neck.

She swatted his arm playfully. "Remember what, love?"

"The dancing, the clothes, the music? You must have had prospective partners lined up for kilometers at the balls in the old days." Her husband swung her around.

She threw back her head and laughed. "I wouldn't know. This is the first one I've ever attended. I was more of a Summer Fete girl."

"Not even when you married into one of the great houses?"

"You think they wanted to show off the low-born in-law?" She shook her head in answer to her own question. "No, this was Mel's arena. She was always the belle."

"Only because you weren't there to show her up." Jamos's hand slid down over her behind.

She gave him a stern look through the holes in her mask but quickly broke into a smile again. "Oh Mel loved this song! She used to say it was all about she and Brem! The princess and her forced engagement and the Kira who whisked her away from it all…"

Shara had seen the holos of the dance even though she had never performed it herself. She had imagined the way it would go with the players she knew. Melaana dancing with Dane Bonteri and then Bremon Kira would come along and sweep her off her feet. It would look like… well… it would start out very much like the couple who were swirling around the center of the dance floor.

Shara froze and her hands covered her mouth as if in an effort to hold back a scream. She was watching the ghosts Mel and Dane back from the dead. No! She shook her head. Not Dane, Lux! And the girl in the red dress with the Rash serpent writhing down her back was…

"Kriff you!" She knew that voice and she understood in a moment why her husband had yet to ask her why she had stopped dancing. He had seen their son's escalating angst while she had been focused on the other looming disaster.

Without a word, only a brief nod and squeeze of the hand, the two of them moved to divide and conquer like the well rehearsed team they had become in all their years together.

…

"What are you doing?" a new voice whispered in his ear. Saw turned around and there was Shara Blackwell, fixing him with a panicked look. "Sawyer Drokko Gerrera, don't just stand there! Do something!"

"Yeah, right. I'll uh…" but what was he supposed to do?

"Find her cloak or something. Get her out of the ballroom. Just talk to her," said Shara as she shunted him through the slack jawed observers towards the couple. "I'll talk to Lux."

"Yeah, okay." Saw tried to plan out what he was going to say and how he was going to warn her. He had never intended to take her in his arms and continue the dance. When they did start dancing, however, he was completely entranced by her smile.

"Saw!" Dara looked so happy, happier than he had ever seen her since she arrived. It made her resemblance to Aunt Mel even more striking. That and the mask that covered the eyes that were more like her father's. "Or should I say Oron?" She laughed. "I was just saying how fitting this story is."

Saw cleared his throat and asked, "Is it?" They moved together smoothly, effortlessly through the motions of the dance. It was as if they were meant for each other. And maybe they were. Their parents had joked about the two of them being betrothed before she was born.

Soniee nodded. "My mother was betrothed until she fell for my father. He was... a Kira."

The name snapped him out of the trance. "Come with me. We've got to get you out of here." He took a firm but gentle hold of her wrist and started to pull her towards the exit.

"But, why?" She resisted for a moment but then must have seen the urgency in his eyes.

"I'll try to explain everything." He told her over the rising murmur of voices around them. "Right now, we've just got to get out."

She obeyed but the smile was gone from her face. He didn't know if he would ever be able to forgive himself for robbing her of that.

…

"Oh gods, she's a Rash!" Lux was near hyperventilating.

Shara put a motherly hand on his shoulder. "You didn't know?"

"She said she was going to wear her mother's house colors. It was a sigil she hadn't seen in the city since she had arrived. I encouraged her. I…" He rambled and then realized who he was speaking to. "Oh gods, I'm sorry, Shara. For you this must be… and for Dalla!"

"Don't worry about me." Shara assured him. "I got to see my dear friend dance again tonight."

An expression of further horror came over him. "Was my father really betrothed to…"

"To Sanjay Rash's little sister?" An ironic smile touched the corners of her mouth. "Aye, and it was she who, after finding out about _you_ , did everything in her power to see that the betrothal be ended so that your parents could be together."

"You knew?" He asked her. "You knew who she was all along."

"Aye." Shara's frown returned. "I'm afraid this is partially my fault. You are too young to remember her. You were only a baby but… Dara looks very much like her mother. I knew who she must be at once. We agreed to let her find out on her own. If we had… but she said she wasn't going to the ball."

"She was afraid she'd run into me and everyone would find out her real identity." He chuckled guiltily.

"Her real name isn't Dara then." It was a statement not a question.

"No, I…" he swore under his breath. "I knew her on Coruscant."

"Well if that is the identity she feels she must conceal, then we will do our best to help her." She said matter of factly.

"But what about everything else?" Lux puffed. "She's a Rash. She's a Kira! Kriff she really is the lost princess of Onderon!"

Shara sighed. "For now, we make sure she doesn't cause a riot. Then we'll worry about the future."

…

"Why in salt gods' names would you _ever_ want to defend that house?" Thias bellowed at Kason and strained against Dalla's fierce hold on him. "That puppet hurt your mom and held you hostage! He tried to hurt my sister! And he killed Miranda!"

"That's all in the past!" Kason shot back. Jamos was holding him back but he still tried to squirm loose and wallop Thias some more. "If Dara's part of it, they can't be all bad."

That only made Thias angrier. "You're going to brush away all his crimes because of a girl?"

"Better I do that than seek vengeance all my life!"

"Well, at least I can call myself a real man who stands up for my family!"

"You're both acting like children!" Jamos bellowed.

Just then Tandin shoved through the other guests and grabbed Thias from his older sister. Dalla gratefully gave him up. When he was younger she could manhandle him, but now that he'd hit his growth spurt Thias towered over her and she didn't know how much longer she could hold him back.

"What's the meaning of this?" Tandin demanded even though he already knew.

"This mother kriffing loser is defending House Rash!" Thias raged.

"Maybe they need to be defended. Dara's all that's left of it, and she's not a bad person."

Free of her brother, Dalla put herself between the two of them and glared. Right now she was struggling to keep her own emotions in check, and she wasn't sure if she had the strength to deal with them on top of it.

Thias and Kason both stopped cold. They knew from personal experience that you really didn't want to be yelled at by Dalla Blackwell. What she lacked in stature she made up in volume.

"Both of you need to calm down now," she ordered. "This is not the time nor the place for a fistfight."

Jamos jumped on that. "There is _no_ good time or place to fistfight your own cousin."

"What the heck, Dalla?" Thias snapped. "You, of all people."

She wasn't fazed. "Aye, me of all people. I don't forget what that monster did, and salt gods know I don't forgive him. But Dara - I don't think she knows what she's doing. She doesn't understand."

"See Thias, I told you!"

"How the kriff could she not -?"

"We're leaving now." Tandin glanced once more to the young woman in the offensive gown, and then hauled Thias out of the ballroom before he could start any more pandemonium.

Jamos stopped when he and Kason came up next to her. "You alright, Chirn Bait?"

"I'm fine," Dalla lied. "I just need some time to process."

…

"Now what is this all about?" Of course Dara must have seen everyone staring. But perhaps she thought it was only because she had been dancing with the senator. And she did look amazing! Maybe she was used to attracting the gaze of so many admirers.

Did she think he was just jealous, that he had only dragged her away from Lux for personal pride? Saw scowled.

"Look, I'm sorry," she said softly after he'd been silent a moment too long. "I wasn't going to come to the ball because I didn't want to see Lux, again… or rather I didn't want him to see me. But then he did see me at the tapcaf this afternoon, and we got to talking, and he asked me, and you were already going with Dalla and I just thought since he'd already recognized me…"

"You're apologizing?" he asked, amazed.

"Well, yes. I thought… I thought it was something I'd done."

"No!" He hurried to assure her. "Well, maybe a bit. I mean… what I mean to say is…" he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "It's your dress."

"My dress?" Dara spun around and he was reminded again of how well it hugged her curves. Even the plunging back, held together with the offensive ornament, open to reveal her creamy tan skin…

"Not the dress exactly, no. It's more a question of…"

The truth dawned on her and she backed up to the wall. "My mother's house, the reason I haven't seen her sigil…"

Saw nodded, hating himself for ruining her gesture to honor her mother.

"What did she do?" Dara was trembling slightly. "I haven't gotten halfway through the journal yet and she seems great but…"

"No! It's not her at least not that I know of." He hedged. He still wasn't ready to tell her how closely they were connected. "It was, she had a … brother?" He posted it as a question though he knew full well.

"Sani? He was harmless. She loved him and he loved her. The argued sometimes, like siblings will, I suppose. I never had a brother or sister. Reading about them kind of made me wish I had."

Saw had a sister. She was the best, and she was taken much too soon. "Losing her must have changed him," he said with a bite to the words he couldn't disguise. "You can't tell me Bonteri never told you about Sanjay Rash?"

Perhaps it took hearing him say it aloud for her to make the connection. The blood drained from her face. "King Sanjay Rash the usurper who took the throne during the… Manda!" She covered her mouth in horror.

Guilty tears beaded up in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks beneath the edges of the mask she still wore. Saw took hold of her shoulders to steady her.

"He was the one who took Kason prisoner here in the palace." She was starting to put the pieces together now. "He called Kason his stepson because he had once been married to Shara, the fruit girl." Dara let out a sob.

"You didn't know. You couldn't have known." Saw told her gently.

"What else? Who else have I offended by declaring for my traitor uncle?" She asked sarcastically.

"I… uh…" he really didn't want to tell her but she had asked and she did need to know.

"What? It gets worse?"

Saw sighed. Better just get it all out. "Sanjay Rash was the sleemo who tried to force Dalla Blackwell to marry him."

"His ex-wife's niece?" She exclaimed. She spun away from him and that's when she saw it. There was a painting, hanging there on the wall, of a young woman.

Dara stared. She could have been looking in a mirror. She took off her mask and reached out to towards the image, stopping just short of touching it. "It's her."

Saw nodded coming up to stand next to her. He looked back and forth between the canvas and the living breathing copy. The eyes were different. He tried to focus on that. "Your mother? It must be."

"This must have been left here after my uncle…"

"It's not your fault…" He attempted.

"Kason must have seen this. It's why he recognized me, or thought he recognized me." She replaced the mask, hiding behind the flimziplast. "I have to go. I should never have come. Shara and, and Dalla… Manda! and Lux… and you…" she finally seemed to remember that Saw was there. "Your sister. I'm so sorry."

Before he could stop her she turned and ran.

…

Back in the ballroom, the musicians had attempted to resume playing but no one was dancing. The Blackwells, along with the other northerners, had left but the room still seemed far too full for Lux's liking. Rumors abounded with more than a few suspicious glances in his direction.

"You had no idea she would reveal her association with that particular house?" King Dendup asked him, not unkindly.

"None whatsoever, your majesty." Lux assured him. "I didn't even know which house she came from. I knew she was researching her mother's family but she'd only just discovered… I am sure that she never meant to cause trouble by it. She wouldn't have dared if…"

"I believe you, Son. She didn't know any better and you, knowing her kind disposition as your friend, didn't presume to guess that she might have come from a house that produced a traitor."

"Forgive me, Sire, for not asking before she arrived…"

"There is nothing to forgive." Dendup patted his shoulder with a smile but then quickly sobered. "I do think it would be prudent to postpone our little announcement that was the primary reason for the occasion?"

"Yes, Sire. I couldn't agree more." Lux was glad of any reason for that. "However, your majesty, there is another reason that we need to delay or even cancel the announcement all together."

"Young man, I know you are not entirely taken with the idea of following in my footsteps, however the issue of succession…"

"That's just it, your majesty." Lux cut him off, unintentionally. "That girl. Her mother may have been a Rash. But her father was... is a Kira."


	17. Freedon Nadd

It's been a long time since I posted and while I do have an outline now to finish this up, before I get back to Soniee and her plight, I want to take you way, way back about 5,000 standard years or so. I've recently discovered the stories of a Jedi Master Djinn Altis who was vilified by the council for disagreeing with some of their teachings and leaving their ranks even though this never caused him to go dark. Now since I am sure this wasn't the first time something like this occurred in the long history of the Jedi Order and with the knowledge that we have no control over how our legacy might be viewed or used after we are gone… I give you: Freedon Nadd.

* * *

"Freedon!"

The tall, young knight slowed his pace a bit for the diminutive Chadra-Fan Master to catch up with his longer stride.

"Calm yourself. You mustn't let the council's decision upset you so." The Master's high, squeaky voice had once grated on Freedon's nerves but he had learned that there was great wisdom behind the words.

"I'm not angry." He sighed. "I knew going in that it was a long shot that they'd agree. I'm just… frustrated."

"The knowledge contained in our archives has long been guarded for the study of those members of the Order who will then use what they have learned for the benefit of all the creatures in the Galaxy."

"Yes." It was the same argument the other Master's had given him. "But if we could share that knowledge with Force sensitives and non-sensitives alike, they wouldn't have the cause to fear us, to push us away when we try to help, to think that there's no difference between us and the Sith."

Nadd had begun to wonder about that himself. If a being was born with the ability to commune with the Force, wasn't it all about how you chose to wield that ability? Wouldn't knowing both sides lead to greater wisdom and capacity to help and instruct others?

"If we did share our knowledge with non-sensitives as you call them might they have greater reason to fear us? Or if they learned of our abilities might they be at us incessantly to fix their problems for them with our powers?"

"Well that's just it, Master. If they knew we had limits to our power, if they knew the true nature of the Force, that we're just mortal beings like everyone else…" His excitement to gain and share knowledge had often gotten Nadd into trouble with his fellow Jedi in the Order. He knew he was only repeating himself. He threw up his hands in defeat.

"Your desire to instruct non-Jedi in the ways of the Force was not the only reason you went before the council today." Master Gled said, smiling indulgently at his former Padawan. "You found something else you wish to share but you were testing the wisdom of giving up the information."

Freedon gave him a bashful grin. "You know me too well, Master. I have found something." He couldn't contain his excitement.

"Well I suppose we should find a more private arena for you to show me this great treasure."

As soon as the Knight and Master were closeted away, Freedon began. "I am sure that great secrets can be learned from what I've discovered but after speaking to the council today I'm afraid that they will only shove it away in a vault."

"What is it?" Master Gled laughed.

"It's a - a holocron." Freedon drew the pyramid shaped object out of a pocket in his cloak and it emitted a faint red glow.

"It is a _Sith_ holocron." The Master observed with trepidation. "How ever did you manage to bring it into the temple undetected? It must be an object of some great power."

"It is." Freedon agreed gazing at it eagerly. "I've been shielding it. No easy task as I've had it with me all the time even when I went before the council."

What he was suggesting took a great deal of power, more than Gled knew his former student to possess. He began to fear that perhaps the object was already working its intent on the young knight. "What you hold there in your hand may seem innocent or it may in fact contain a great evil."

"Knowledge is not inherently good or evil. You taught me that, Master."

"That is true." Gled frowned. "But it may not only be information stored in that object. The Sith were suspected of having the ability to leave a portion of their soul within the prism."

The young knight was discomfited only for a moment. Then he smiled again, tossed the holocron in the air and caught it. "Only one way to find out."

"So you're just going to take it apart to find out what's inside like you did with that professor droid at the beginning of your training?"

"I wanted to see if there was an easier way to get at the knowledge it held. I got it put back together." He laughed.

The Master knew there was nothing he could say to change Freedon's mind. "Just be careful, my friend."

"I'm not going to open it here, if that's what you're worried about."

"No?" Gled squeaked. "Where are you running off to now?"

"It's a sparsely populated world, a jungle planet with a large near jungle moon. Mostly wild non sentient creatures. Maybe with what I learn from this thing I can make it more habitable." He tossed the holocron up and caught it again nonchalantly.

"And what is this world called?"

"Onderon, Master. It's called Onderon."

…

Carin sighed and snuggled in her husband's arms. "I still can't believe that you'd give it all up for me."

"Give what up for you, my love?"

"Freedon," she looked up at him incredulously. "You've lived a thousand years." That might have been an exaggeration or it might not. No one knew exactly how old the great teacher might be. He had discovered the secret to extending his life so long ago, he might have even forgotten himself. "You could have had any number of women in all that time. I don't know why you chose small, ordinary me."

"Maybe I like ordinary." He nuzzled her neck and reveled in her sweet laughter. "I've seen extraordinary. I've lived through wars, and peace and trouble and calm but never once have I just lived like an ordinary man with an ordinary wife and an ordinary child." He placed his hand on her belly.

"You knew?" Of course he knew. As much as he might try Freedon Nadd could never be called ordinary. "And you don't… think it will be like you."

"He." Freedon told her. "No, he won't be burdened with my abilities."

"You really think of your gifts as a burden?" She asked him.

He gazed at her. In all his years no one had asked him such a thing. That was why he loved her, why he had chosen to discontinue his methods of lengthening his life and live out a normal span of years and grow old with this woman. He tried to think of how to answer her question. "It is… a great responsibility, the things I've seen…"

He felt the weight of his many years. Sometimes it was hard for him to tell if he was remembering something from the past or if it was a vision of what was yet to come. He had seen a powerful child, one who would face great trouble but would emerge to make things right. He still wasn't entirely sure what things needed to be made right. There was something still to come for Freedon himself, he had a very bad feeling about.

But it wasn't this child, his son, who would have to deal with all that. His son would be normal.

"Papa won't be too happy about that." Carin smiled. "I'm sure when he agreed to give you my hand that he hoped he might be the grandfather of a great Force user."

Freedon smiled too and nodded. He was sure she was right. Carin's father had long been one of the teacher's greatest acolytes. He had been brought to Freedon as a young child to serve and learn from him.

He had watched the boy grow into a man, teaching him everything he knew. Perhaps Freedon had taught the man too much. Perhaps the Jedi had been right all those years ago and there were some truths that should be kept only for those who had the power to use the information.

Freedon Nadd had not kept his own study to what would have been considered a Jedi approved curriculum. When he had discovered spells and majiks that could be used by his non force sensitive students, to allow them to have some of the same control over nature and the elements, the fact that they might have come from the Sith seemed a small price to pay for the good that it did the people and their communities.

From his greatest student, Freedon had held back nothing. Even the knowledge that he might have himself forgotten, filing it away to data cubes and holocrons in case he might want to go back to it or have need of it later, were made available to the man Freedon had seen as his most worthy pupil. He saw in this man another who shared his thirst for learning.

He had however encouraged his student turned friend to not waste his life on only academic pursuits. He had always thought that the Jedi were missing something in their forbidding of attachment and though he had never taken the time for romance in his own long life, Freedon encouraged his own students to taste all the joys of having spouses and children.

Gazing at his own wife now, he thanked the Force that his student had taken his suggestion. She was everything to him and he would have given up the Galaxy to be at her side. From her as well, the only thing he could sense was love, love for him and for their child to come and hope for the future that they would share. Only they never got that chance.

Perhaps his vision was clouded by the attachment that he was warned against long ago when he was a padawan in the Jedi temple. Or perhaps with the past and present and future with so many years lived the visions were confused in his mind and he had no idea that the trouble he had foreseen would come quite so soon. Regardless, the blade, enchanted with Sith majiks, found it's mark in his back. It took away his physical existence but tied his spirit to the planet Onderon and its moon Dxun.

"The child." Freedon managed to say as his life drained out of him. "The child will set things right."

Carin was heartbroken. Her only solace was the child she carried. Her father also placed his hope in the child. He was furious when he discovered that the boy didn't possess his father's abilities.

There was only one thing to be done. Carin's father decided to use what he had been taught to call back the spirit of his dead teacher. Freedon's spirit was not happy to be woken from its rest but he could not resist the incantations.

"You said the child would put things right!" The enchanter demanded.

" _Is that what I said? I wouldn't know. I was busy dying at the time. I never got the chance to see my child or hold him in my arms. You took that from me!_ "

"My grandson should have had the same power you possessed! Why is he as ordinary as any other child?"

" _There was never a guarantee that the affinity with the Force would pass down from parent to child. You should have known that from my writings_."

The man paced before the image of his dead master. "You're going to tell me how I can give him the power that is his legacy!"

" _You know I can't do that either. I can not give him power anymore than I could give it to you_."

"I should have let you live till I knew if the boy had the gift. Then perhaps you could have given Carin another child who would have had it."

" _We'll never know that shall we?_ " The spirit glared at the man with angry red eyes, but there was nothing he could do to take his revenge. " _Will you allow me now to go back to my rest after everything else you have denied me?_ "

"No." He had the decency to look wary of the power he had unleashed but that was as far as it went. "I plan on keeping you around for as long as I believe you will be useful."

" _And you think I will do your bidding just because you ask nicely?_ "

"I don't have to ask nicely." The enchanter held up a holocron that Nadd had been working on recently. "Your existence is tied to these objects you left behind. I made sure that I would always have my teacher available to answer at my beck and call. The sooner you have an heir who might be able to take your place however, the sooner I can let you off the hook. So just tell me. Will it be my great-grand child or perhaps my great-great…"

" _I wouldn't hold your breath. Or maybe you should. You will never get your hands on my heir!_ " There was thunder in the voice of the deceased ex-Jedi and his one time student shrank back but he still wouldn't give up.

The connection to the realm of wherever it was Freedon Nadd was doomed to wait out his sentence was cut off for now, but he wasn't forgotten. His mind continued to exist, waiting for his grandchildren and great great great grandchildren to discover the power of their legacy and call out to him to furnish their needs and wants. He didn't have the power to destroy them as he wished he could do to break the spell and free his spirit to oblivion.

Like a prisoner, a Djinn in a bottle. He waited for his chance.

…

After the ball Soniee didn't know which way to go or what to do. She thought of her bed in the ladies' dorm in the tunnels but the idea of answering their questions made her sick. Of course the story would have gotten back to them by now. And she was still wearing the offensive ornament on her back. She could almost feel it crawling there, dragging her down to destruction. And she felt again, that pull toward something even deeper in the catacombs under the city.

There would be answers there she knew, but she wasn't ready for those answers. Right now she only wanted to make sense of the pain she had caused her friends. She made her way back to the space dock, to the B-7 freighter. She would attempt to calm her own frazzled nerves and then she would find Lux and Saw and the Blackwells and apologize for who she was and what that meant to each of them.


	18. Showdown at the Old Gerrera Place

Back to the present and the aftermath of the ball. The Blackwells made their exit in a hurry and it's time to focus on how they're dealing with the night's revelations.

* * *

He watched her run off like the princess from some fairytale. Is that what she was? He wondered. If so he couldn't help but hope that she would get her happy ending. And maybe he hoped a little that he might be part of that happy ending.

Right now however, it was the middle of the story when everything was going wrong and the characters couldn't see how it could possibly get any better. She wanted to be alone. That was probably for the best. Just as long as she didn't keep on running…

Saw swallowed. He had lost too many people. He didn't want to lose Dara, too. And what was getting into him thinking of fairytales and princesses. He certainly wasn't any kind of prince. His thoughts went back to seeing her dancing with Lux Bonteri. She had looked as if she belonged with those people.

White hot jealousy twisted in his gut. Maybe Dalla was right. He was a lovesick fool.

Thinking of Dalla reminded him of the confrontation in the ballroom. He might at least be able to do some good there and the Blackwell family drama always made for a decent distraction from his own problems.

Saw had expected to hear yelling as he neared the house that had once belonged to his parents. He wasn't disappointed there. The raised voices were audible for almost a klik before he reached the place. It was the subject matter that he never would have imagined, however, and when he finally stepped in the door, the thick layer of gray fur that seemed to be covering everything in the house.

The high, sweet voice of little Lana was the first that he could make out clearly from the rest of the cacophony, "But Kasey was hot, Daddy."

Who could argue with that? And Saw supposed it explained the fur. Then he heard the laughter and found double trouble, Emoth and Cade Blackwell hiding in a bedroom both having absolute fits.

"What's going on?" Saw asked them.

The two of them could hardly breathe for laughing let alone speak but Saw waited. "It was… the little ones…" One of the boys began.

"Couldn't stand to see the cog suffering… in this heat…"

"Decided… he needed a haircut…"

From the other room they heard poor Maris Tandin trying to explain. "I was just in the other room, tryin' to put the twins down. Thought the rest were all fine, watchin' a holo."

"Of course we don't blame you, Maris." Came Shara's voice. She sounded exhausted with one more disaster after everything that had gone on at the ball.

"And whose idea was this?" Captain Jamos Blackwell's voice bellowed.

Emoth and Cade lost it once again and Saw was sure he wouldn't be able to get another word out of the pair. He made his way down the hall towards the living room to see if he might be able to make some more sense of the events of the evening. What he found were several small children with guilty expressions on their faces and a half shaved Norcog.

The cog barked excitedly and bounded toward the newcomer. "Hey there, boy. What did they do to you?" Saw grabbed the beast's collar and tried to calm him. Kasey at least seemed happy enough and he honestly must have been much cooler with his new style. The kids had done a pretty decent job of the thing before they were caught. It was a nice close shave the kind that came from…"

"Whose idea was it to use these?" Jamos held up a small device and Saw knew what it was in an instant. He used a similar set of trimmers on his own facial hair.

The truth began to click into place. The children hadn't quit because they'd been caught. They had burned out the motor of Dad's beard trimmer before they could finish.

Saw let out a bark of laughter. After all the tension of the evening, the absurdity of it was a welcome relief. He looked around and noticed Thias and Kason had left off their argument and were also allowing the humor of the situation mend the breach between them. While the patriarch continued to try to get the full story out of his younger children, Saw crossed the room to the cousins.

"You two speaking to each other again?" He asked when he reached them.

"Aye." Kason shoved Thias good naturedly. "He finally admitted that it's not Dara's fault who her uncle was."

Thias shoved back. "And he admitted that he was stupid to get so wound up over a girl who's so completely out of his league."

"She is not." Kason shoved back a with a little more force.

Thias held his ground. "Aye, she is."

"Hey! Hey." Saw stepped between. "Let's not start this again."

"Easy for you to say," Kason said with his jaw fixed, just begging for a reason to start another fight. "You looked pretty cozy out there dancing with her."

The former General Grigori Tandin chose that moment to intercede. "Saw, boys, everything alright here?"

"Just discussing the events of the evening, Sir." Saw was attempting not to let the jealous little sailor boy get to him. Remembering it now however, it had been very 'cozy' having her in his arms. "I was trying to get her out of there in one piece," he told Kason as levelly as he could manage.

"Oh and how'd that work out? Where is she now?" Kason asked crossing his arms over his chest.

Saw answered honestly. "I don't know. She needed some time alone to think things through."

"Aye?" The boy smirked.

"Aye." Saw repeated the word.

A little girl came up and took Tandin's hand. "Is it time to go to the hotel, Papa?" She asked.

He scooped her up in his arms as naturally as if he'd been doing it all his life or at least hers. "Almost, Nessa. As soon as I'm sure these young men are finished with their conversation?"

Saw and Kason spoke simultaneously, "Yeah," "Aye."

Kason spun away toward the bedroom he was sharing with his brothers and cousins and Thias followed behind him.

"Thanks, General." Saw said after the boys had gone. "At least they're not fighting each other anymore."

"It's not… nevermind." Tandin waved off the use of his former rank title. The little girl, Nessa, laid her head on his shoulder sleepily. "You doing alright, Saw?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm…" He wasn't fine and they both knew it. He didn't insult the old man with the pretense. "I was looking for Dalla, wanted to make sure she made it back. I was supposed to be escorting her this evening."

Tandin frowned and glanced around. "I haven't seen her in a while. I know she was here with the rest of us when we arrived after the ball. Maybe she just went out for some peace and quiet."

"Don't blame her." Saw smiled. But he wondered. Wasn't she talking about staying at the ladies dorm tonight? Maybe she and Dara were both down there. Not that Myat would let him speak to either of them if they were locked up tight under her protection.

"Well, I think we're going to get out of here while the getting is good." Tandin nodded to his wife who was bustling over shaking her head. "Ready?"

"Oh I'm more than ready. Just wanted to wait until Ephraim and Talia came for the twins and here they are so…"

But someone else was a step behind them. Lux Bonteri stepped into the living room looking lost. Shara noticed him and went to cut him off before he and Saw could start at each other's throats.

Not even the angry growl, "Emoth Oron Blackwell!" or the answering adolescent cry of, "Osik! Cade run!" could distract the two angry young men from their imminent confrontation.

Lux opened with something like an apology. Always the diplomat. "Saw, I swear, I didn't know."

"Didn't know you were dropping a snake into a den of tavrik?" They all knew that the Onderonian tavrik is something like a mongoose. They prey on all kinds of serpents and keep the harmful populations down to a minimum. It was an apt metaphor.

Lux dropped his head. "I had no prior knowledge of the identity of her family. It was as much a revelation to me as it was to you."

It hadn't been a surprise to Saw. He had known all along that she was Melaana Rash's daughter. But he never would have allowed her to announce it so publicly to a crowd that might be prepared to drag her out and feed her to dalgo for the mere association. That is if he had known she was coming to the ball at all. He could have warned her. He was angry with himself but he turned that anger back on Lux. "But you knew her, didn't you? She was the one, your Princess of Onderon that was all over the news a few years back?"

"Yes," Lux admitted. The tooka was out of the bag now. "She was my friend."

Saw crossed his arms over his chest haughtily. "Looked a like a whole lot more than friends on the holonet."

"Soniee was in love with someone else!" Lux winced. He hadn't meant to use her real name. "She couldn't reveal his identity."

A memory sparked in Saw's mind and he scoffed. "Yeah some clone ended up in her bed."

There was a gasp from somewhere in the room and he remembered too late that he and Lux had an audience.

Lux started to say something and then stopped himself and began again. "I told her I was happy to cover for them." If Saw and the others thought it was the clone Soniee had had a relationship with, so be it. At least he had kept one secret for her. Then he changed the subject. "And besides it was too soon after Steela for me to even think about…"

Saw exploded. "Don't you even say her name!" He backed Lux up to the wall and shook an angry finger in his face.

The formerly passive audience jumped to step in if it came to blows but Saw restrained himself, barely and took a step back. He lashed out instead with his words. "Steela loved those jungles and with one word from you the Empire comes and torches them to the ground! You spit on my sister's memory and everything that she stood for!"

"I swear, Saw. I had no idea. I didn't tell anyone about the bases we used. I don't know how they found out. When I saw the images of the destruction on the net…"

"I don't want to hear this!" Saw pushed past him and the rest of the onlookers. He had to get away or he knew he was going to do some serious damage.

All eyes returned to Lux who sighed deeply and covered his face with his hands. When he emerged he looked around at all of them. "I am so sorry."

Shara went to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "None of this is your fault. You didn't know. If anyone is to blame, it's me. I recognized her from the start and…" she shook her head. "You know that's just Sawyer being Sawyer."

"He's… jealous." It dawned on Lux.

She didn't deny it. "He's old enough to remember Melaana a little and she used to tease that her baby girl was going to marry Saw one day."

"Sounds like my father coming between her parents." Lux rolled his eyes.

"It is a bit like history repeating itself."

"We'll be heading out then." Ephraim called before he and Talia made their way to the door.

"Unless you want our help cleaning up." His wife suggested. Ephraim was obviously hoping to get out before someone brought that up.

Shara shook her head. "No, that's alright get the girls to bed. Jamos will no doubt have the boys cleaning till the next salt and light."

Lux actually smiled and went to say goodbye to his goddaughters. "Sorry I didn't get to spend more time with you Maia and Fiona. I'll come again and visit you at your home soon."

They didn't know him well, having only seen him once or twice in their lives but they had been told about their famous senator godfather and shown his holos from Coruscant. Shy Fiona burrowed into her mother's shoulder but the more outgoing Maia waved her little fingers a him, "Bu-bye."

"Bye-Bye, little one."

"And though I'm sure it doesn't hold a candle to my inn, we had better make our way to the hotel." Maris tugged at her husband's arm. "Come on, Grigori."

Tandin obeyed loyally. "Aye, Ma'am." but he turned once more to look at Lux and maybe he was seeing more that a bit of Dane standing before him. "It was good to see you. Wish the circumstances had been a bit happier but…"

"Grigori." She had taken Nessa from his arms and they were both walking down the hall ahead of him.

"Good night." he smiled and followed them out.

"Good night, General." Lux waved.

And Shara also called after them, "Good night, Grigori, Maris. Thank you for everything." Then she turned to her three youngest children who were still standing there wide-eyed and covered in cog fur. "Well, time for bed. I guess we'll do baths in the morning. Too late for that now."

"Aye, Momma." all three of them chorused.

"Boys help your sister get her teeth brushed." She watched them go and then turned to Lux. "Are you doing alright?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "I thought I was supposed to be asking you that. I really came tonight because I wanted to make sure you and Dalla were handling things."

"She disappeared pretty quickly once we had Kason and Thias under control. But if I had to hazard a guess, I don't think she's gone far. Come with me."

He followed her through the kitchen and out the back door and they found Dalla sitting on the back step still in her fancy gown.

"So you found my amazing hiding place." She sniffed and gave them a sad smile.

Lux knelt down beside her. "Dalla I… I am so sorry. I honestly didn't know that's what she was going to be wearing tonight and I… I never wanted to drudge up bad memories for you or hurt you in anyway."

"I know, Lux. But thank you and of course I forgive you. You didn't get to go through with your announcement." Dalla knew what the purpose of the event had really been. He had felt he could discuss it with another heir of the great houses more easily than he could with anyone else.

He glanced at Shara before he nodded. "We'll find a better time for that I guess."

"Or another heir so you don't have to go through with it?" she prodded with a slight teasing smile.

"Wouldn't that be nice."

Dalla sobered some before she asked. "You didn't see Dara leave, did you? We were all so focused on getting Thias and Kase out I didn't see…"

"She didn't mean to cause any offense." Lux said quickly.

"Oh, aye. I'm sure of that." Dalla shrugged. "I mean I only just met her. We hit it off right away. Just wanted to make sure that no one else got the wrong idea. That she made it home alright."

"I'm afraid I don't know. Saw spoke to her and then… I think she ran off."

Dalla looked worried. "You think Saw said something to her?"

"I don't think he was trying to get rid of her. Maybe he came on too strong." Shara spoke up and they both remembered that she was there. She was right though. They had all seen the way Saw was looking at the girl.

"I do know that she can take care of herself." Lux mused. "I thought I might go and check her freighter at the space dock. I have a feeling that's where she went and maybe she'll talk to me."

Dalla reached for his hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. "Sorry we wrecked your party."

"Nah I'm glad. Well not that Son-er-Dara… you know what I mean."

"Aye, I do. Go and find her and let us know what happens?"

"I will." He nodded at both of the women.

Before he could leave Dalla stopped him once more. "Will we see you again before you go back to Coruscant?"

"No, I leave in the morning, but I'll send you a comm."

"Thanks, Lux. Safe travels."

"And go with the salt gods," Shara added.

They watched him go, not back through the house but around the smithy yard to the street and toward the spaceport.

When he was out of sight Dalla groaned, pulled her knees up to her chest, and lay her head on them.

Shara sat down beside her and rubbed her shoulder. "Tough night."

"It was… I couldn't help but think that it was the kind of dress that Sanjay would have liked to fit me for. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. I just froze. It was like I had that necklace around my neck again and that horrid cloak… But you… it must have been just as hard for you, Aunt Shara?"

The older woman took a deep breath. "Would you believe I didn't even think of Sanjay at first? I saw Dara and Lux dancing and it was as if I was transported back and it was Mel and Dane. Of course then I couldn't help but remember that the night of their betrothal party was the first time Sanjay took me up to his room." She shuddered. "I loved him or thought I did back then. I actually wanted to be part of that family. I would have loved to have worn a dress like that to that party. Instead I was snuck up the back stairs like some whore."

"Does she really look that much like her mother?" Dalla asked. Her aunt didn't often talk about the old days but she was intrigued now.

"Aye, very much. She doesn't have the eyes but her other features, the way she smiles. She might have been Melaana's twin."

"Or Miranda's." Dalla thought.

"Aye." Shara went quiet. She was thinking of whose eyes Dara did have. She wondered if the news of the fiasco at the ball would get to him up in his cave. She wondered if she should tell him.


	19. I Just Want You To Know Who I Am

I don't want the world to see me.

Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am.

Heard this song on the radio the other day and it just seemed to fit Soniee so well. She sure could use one friend who knows who she is and she can just be herself with them without worry of discovery.

We begin with a flashback from the days when she had such a friend. From the ending of The Ashla Spectrum working into the beginning of The Ashla Awareness, from another point of view.

* * *

 _He sat in the Onderonian Senate pod and again checked the chrono. There were still beings wandering around conversing in their numerous varied languages, but Representative Soniee Ordo was usually here by now._

 _Lux hadn't seen or heard from her since he had seen her back to Senator Amidala's apartment after their picnic. Fox had never returned after he was called away. Come to think of it, Lux hadn't seen the Commander of the Coruscant guard since then either._

 _Maybe the two of them had met up again later in the evening when he had completed his duties. Maybe Soniee had finally taken his advice and that was the reason she was late this morning._

 _Lux grinned in spite of himself._ Those two deserve a little happiness _. He thought. And it made him happy to think that he had helped to bring them together. Still even if the Mando girl and the clone had spent the night together, if he knew Soniee and he thought he did, she wouldn't want to let anything appear out of the ordinary. She would still want to be on time to the regular Senate meetings._

 _He waited and she didn't come nor did she comm. The Chancellor rose in his pod at the center of the rotunda and his advisor Mas Amedda called for order._

 _"Before we get on with our other business this morning," the Chancellor gravely addressed the gathered beings. "I must relate to you all the distressing events of last evening."_

 _Lux was barely listening, still looking out for Soniee and her attentive personal guard. After all they were in the middle of a war. There was always something distressing going on. What were the odds that it had anything directly to do with Lux or his friends?_

 _"While I was working late last night one of our own clone troopers came into my office and made an attempt on my life."_

 _There was a murmur around the chamber and Lux even perked up his ears to listen. The clones were unerringly loyal. Why would one of them suddenly turn on the leader of the republic? We're they all susceptible to that kind of treachery? Surely Fox would never…_

 _Suddenly the Chancellor had Lux's full attention. "Republic medical specialist have discovered that the clone in question was affected with a virus…"_

 _The turmoil in the Senate chamber matched that inside Lux's own mind. Did Fox have this virus? Was he contagious? Could it be passed to non clones? Were he and Soniee alone together?_

 _"It is their belief that the development and release of this virus may in fact be a separatist plot to turn our own army against us."_

 _Lux rolled his eyes. Everything was a separatist plot. But this could be serious._

 _"However…" Palpatine went on, raising his hand to stem the tide of complaint from the beings who were now many of them out of their seats and demanding answers. "Our scientists have also succeeded in quickly and skillfully, developing a vaccine that is even now being sent out to every clone soldier both here on Coruscant and to the ends of the galaxy. Soon this threat just like every other challenge that we have faced bravely together will be behind us._

 _That's easy for you to say, Lux thought. He had been on the field of battle. He knew what it was like. But Soniee and Fox, if they had spent the night together, they might not know yet about the virus or the vaccine! He raced out of the pod and through the halls. He would find them and tell them, even if it meant interrupting something._

 _Outside the senate building, he found a speeder bike and quickly swiped his ID to charge the rental fee. Then he was in the air and zipping around the larger transports and freight vehicles. Usually when he came to visit Soniee and Padme he had parked in the apartment garage and taken the lift up to the penthouse but he didn't have time for that today. As he circled toward the balcony however the first thing he saw was that there was a bike already parked there and Fox was sitting on the ledge with his legs dangling over the treacherous edge._

 _Most buildings in this district had some sort of repulsor field meant to catch jumpers or the unfortunate fool who lost his balance but Lux wasn't sure they always worked. He pulled his own bike up behind the first and hopped to the balcony. "Commander Fox are you alright? Where's Soniee? Is she alright?"_

 _Fox looked up at him, blearily. "She's gone."_

 _"Gone?" Lux's thoughts and his heart raced. "What do you mean gone?"_

 _"Back to Mandalore." Fox shook his head as if that should be obvious._

 _"You mean she just left? How? When? Wh-why?"_

 _Fox returned his gaze to the drop in front of him and then seemed to realize where he was. He stood carefully and took a few steps back from the drop. "She eh… wanted to go home. I got the quartermaster to speed up the requisition for her ship and … she left. Flew off…" He checked his chrono. "A couple of hours ago."_

 _"She has a ship and she went…" Lux was trying to make sense of it all._

 _Fox pulled a holo projector out of his pocket and activated it. "B-7 light freighter. Not quite the Kom'rk she would have liked but it flies, it's got shields, and it can be modified if she wants. She knows how to do that kind of thing."_

 _"But how could you just… let her go?"_

 _Fox looked away from the senator. "Had to. She wanted to go."_

 _"But…" Lux studied him. "You're in love with her."_

 _"Kriff it, Bonteri! That's why I had to let her go. Don't you see?" Anyone who said the clones were just wet droids, not men with feelings had never spent any time with them._

 _"Look, Fox." Lux walked over and put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "The Chancellor said just now that he was attacked, that a clone with some sort of virus tried to kill him in his office. Now if you've contracted this thing, it could be… They have a vaccine and I think we should get you…"_

 _Fox shook his head. "There's no virus. That brother who attacked the Chancellor? I was the head of the squad that tracked him down. I…" He shut his eyes tight. "No virus made him do what he did and no virus made me kill him." He rubbed at the side of his head as if trying to scrub away the memory._

 _Lux spoke gently. "Still, this vaccine, they mean to give it to every clone in the army. If you don't get it…"_

 _"Yeah, you're probably right. If I don't show up they'll probably be sending somebody after me next. Not like I don't deserve it." The guilt that radiated from him was palpable. "But I'd hate for any brother to be ordered to off me and then feel like this. Fives didn't deserve it. I…" He broke down and Lux gave the other man, his friend, an awkward hug._

 _Lux followed the clone all the way to the clone barracks and made sure he was signed in and put on a list to receive that vaccine. Whether he said so or not, Lux wasn't so sure about the existence of the contagion and it was better to be safe than sorry. He still wondered if Soniee could have caught something from her contact with the clone. There had been rumors about viruses that might be directed specifically at the clone dna but how was that possible? Wasn't all human or humanoid DNA similar enough that targeting one strand be well nigh impossible?_

 _He left the base with more questions than answers and his thoughts remained on Soniee. They would have even if he hadn't been surrounded by hologossip reporters as soon as he was on the civilian side of the perimeter barrier._

 _"Is it true that Representative Ordo has left Coruscant?"_

 _Wow that news had gotten out fast. "Y-yes." Lux said carefully._

 _"Our sources tell us that you left the senate hall in rather a hurry, Senator Bonteri. Was this in an effort to say a tearful goodbye to the mother of your child as she prepared to fly back home to Mandalore for her confinement and the birth of your child?"_

 _"I… umm…" A thought dawned on him then. The race away from Coruscant, the tearful goodbye not with him but with a man who loved her dearly. It was entirely possible that Representative Ordo had run away to have someone's child. He grinned. "I…" he tried to begin again to answer the question. "There are times when a young woman wants only to spend some time with her own mother."_

 _The reporters seemed to take that as all the conformation they needed. Hopefully that would buy him some time to think of a better answer._

 _…_

He smiled watching again the story that the gossip holos had repeated as gospel truth until they learned differently when he attended Soniee's graduation and the galaxy learned that she was not pregnant. Although then they no doubt assumed that he rectified that situation before he left Sundari.

Now he was standing in front of her freighter watching old holos while trying to work up the courage to knock.

"It's no wonder they thought you were going to be a father, standing there grinning like a _mir'osik di'kut_." She had opened the hatch without him noticing and was now standing in the doorway watching the holo over his shoulder. She didn't look exactly happy but she was considerably more relaxed in a plain gray flight suit. She had washed the makeup from her face and had brushed her hair back into a serviceable dalgo tail.

Lux clicked off the projector and turned to face her. "I was happy that my friends had finally taken my advice and gotten on with their kriffing lives." He could swear in Mando'a too. She had taught him that at least.

She shook her head, the corner of her mouth turning up in a slight smile. "You really thought me and Fox…"

"Fierfek! You two were intolerable! And he got you a ship." He laid his hand against the hull.

She stepped out and studied the craft along with him. "Well it's not like he bought it for me with his GAR pension. It was a replacement for the ship I lost in the temple bombing."

She looked sad again. Perhaps she was remembering those days during the war, when everything was boiled down to a separatist plot. Or maybe she was thinking of the changes that had taken place since then. The temple was still under reconstruction as the new Imperial palace. And from there it was rumored that Palpatine sent out his special forces, inquisitors they were called, to hunt down the last of the Jedi who were still in hiding.

He had to get her mind off that. "Eh, most beings probably thought it was a wedding present from me after our secret elopement."

Lux was rewarded with a smile and a playful swat on the arm. "The same beings who were certain we were brother and sister the week before? Come on. I've got shig on the boil."

He followed her into the freighter and went to shut the hatch a moment after she waved her hand at the control and made it shut with the Force. It was probably a huge relief to be able to use her powers in front of someone without worry. He didn't remind her of the danger. She knew.

"Did you know it was your mother who deserves a lot of the credit for getting my parents together?"

Soniee busied herself in the small galley finding cups and taking blue cream from the conservator. "Really? When did you find this out?" She added the behot leaves to the water on the hot plate catching it just before it started to whistle its readiness and the ship began to fill with the fruity smell of the drink.

"Just now before I came here. I did a search on the net and well, I'll let you see for yourself." Lux sat on the galley bench that doubled as an acceleration couch for hyperspace travel in the small vessel. Despite the fact that it was a ship, there was a very homey feel to the place. She had truly made it her own.

Soniee turned smiling and handed him his cup and then held up both the cream and a small flask of what must be tihaar, the alcoholic beverage that some Mandos liked to add to their beverage. She raised her eyebrows in question.

"Just a bit."

She added the tiniest amount to his shig and a bit to her own and put the cream back in the conservator. Then she sat next to him on the bench. "Alright show me what you found."

He took a sip of his drink. "Kriff! That's strong stuff!"

She laughed, " _Gar serim_!"

It was good to see a smile on her face. Lux pulled the holo projector out of his pocket, found the item he had saved and set it on the table to play for them both. "This was about 8 months before I was born."

"And you're a couple of standard months older than I am." She nodded sipping her drink and waiting for the projection to come into focus.

 _A beautiful young girl was descending a grand staircase on the arm of a young man who had the same exotic eyes and dark hair that she had._

"It's her." There was a catch in Soniee's voice at the sight of her mother. "And that must be Sanjay."

"He must not have always been a complete poodoo."

Soniee swatted her friend and then focused back on the images that were playing out in the holo.

 _At the bottom of the stairs, the girl's brother surrendered her to another young man._

It took Soniee's breath away just how much he looked like the young man next to her. She looked at Lux in amazement and he shrugged. "My father, the then Lieutenant Dane Bonteri."

"He was so handsome. Manda. Look at them together."

 _Dane whirled his betrothed around the dance floor and Lux paused the image for a moment._

"There." He pointed to the edge of the crowd. "My mother. Now watch."

 _The woman looked lovely but terribly sad. And when Lux set the images in motion again, she covered her mouth as if she were going to be sick and ran out of the field of view._

Soniee looked at him incredulous. "You attended by mother's betrothal party?"

Lux laughed out loud. "Ha! I guess I did." He sat up a little straighter from his relaxed position and switched to another recording.

"That's this space port, isn't it?" Soniee asked.

"Yeah. This was the morning after the party. I think." He settled back next to her, comfortable in the presence of his old friend.

 _Lux's mother, Mina was boarding a fancy senatorial shuttle and beside her in his military uniform stood his father. Soniee's mother ran up to them. She exchanged a few words with her betrothed but then she turned to the senator and handed her something._

Soniee mused, "She made sure that your father went back to Coruscant with your mother so they could be together."

He nodded. "It certainly looks that way."

"Thank you, for showing me." Soniee sighed. "It makes me feel a little better about…"

"What makes you think we're done?" Lux downed the rest of his shig and set up another holo for them to watch.

Soniee wasn't sure what she was looking at for a moment.

 _A hand was swatting at the holocam's recorder and then her mother's wide beautiful eyes were staring directly at her._ " _Frak!_ "

Soniee burst into laughter. Of all the things she could have heard her mother say, the first thing was the young woman swearing at the gossip holo's cam.

 _Another voice laughed. "Well it was good but I didn't think..." The young man's eyes also widened in surprise and then the image took in a smiling twi'lek with the datapad and stylus at the ready._

 _"Sark Ueson'nigol, H.E.N. You are Miss Melaana Rash I presume, betrothed of a certain Lieutenant Dane Bonteri of Iziz who is currently on assignment guarding the Galactic Senator, Mina Skelari?"_

 _"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken." Bremon, because that's who it must be, took her by the elbow and began to lead her through the marketplace trying to get lost in the crowd._

"That's my father," Soniee said quietly.

 _The cambot followed them as they raced through the streets of Iziz till Melaana stopped her companion and turned boldly to face the hovering droid. She waved and said, "Hello, Dane. Give Mina my love." Then for good measure she blew it a kiss._

Lux was watching her closely for her reaction.

Soniee finished off her now cold shig and set aside her cup. "This is amazing. I don't know how you found these but… thank you."

"Just one more." He reached for the projector and set up another vid.

 _This time the cambot seemed to be flying high above the jungles and a ruping came into view. It had two passengers and as the recorder caught up to them, Soniee could see that it was her parents again. Her father was seated behind her mother and he was kissing her while she held the reigns. They both noticed they were being recorded and then her mother yelled, "I Love Bremon Kira and I'm Going To Have His Baby!"_

"Manda." She choked back a sob. "They were so happy."

"Soniee," Lux ventured. "About your fa-"

But it was about all she could take just then. She rose from the bench and took his cup and her own. "Do you want any more?"

"No, thank you." He frowned.

She changed the subject. "Do you ever hear from Fox? I don't suppose you do. He must be trying to keep a low profile also, since he left the army."

"No, I haven't heard from him in years."

"He came to Mandalore with the 501st for the siege. He stayed with me when…" She couldn't finish that train of thought and sought another topic. "He married my friend Lagos. Did I tell you that already?"

"You might have mentioned it."

"Oh, well, he did."

Lux stood and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I miss those times on Coruscant with the three of us."

"Sometimes I do too."

He chuckled. "I was so sure that you and he…"

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe there was a little chemistry at work there. But I had already said yes to…" She couldn't say his name. "I didn't know if he had gotten my answer."

"And now you don't know if he's said the words to set you free."

She didn't. He was right. She was back in the same position she had been in three years ago. She had wondered then if she wanted for Korkie to have heard her acceptance of his proposal and now she wondered if she wanted to be free of him. Would it be better for both of them just to move on?

"Soniee, I'll give you the same advice I did then. You can't dwell in the past. You have to move on and live your life. With someone who's obviously crazy about you?"

"Lux." She turned towards him. "I don't think…"

"Oh kriff! You didn't think I was talking about me? We're good friends and all but I'm sure we both never felt that way about each other."

She chuckled. "Who then?"

"Do you honestly not know?" he asked.

Soniee shrugged and shook her head.

"Saw."

"Oh." She turned and walked a few paces away from him. "I… I guess I…"

"You didn't notice how jealous he was that you showed up at the ball with me?" He observed.

"I was a little distracted by other things, Lux."

"And everyone who saw the two of you dancing together…"

"I danced with you too, Lux. Remember junior Dane and Melaana?"

"Dane and Melaana were never meant to be together. If they were you'd be my little sister."

Soniee rolled her eyes again. "You do make a pretty great _ori'vod_."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Big brother in Mando'a," she explained with a sigh.

"And how do you say, little sister?"

"Vod'ika."

"Well, vod'ika," He pulled her into a hug. "I'm afraid my ship is sailing soon."

"Don't go." She whispered. "You're the first person I've been able to be totally honest with in so long."

He pushed her away a little and looked her in the eye. "I'll only be a comm away. You're not getting rid of me so easily this time."

She nodded and together they walked to the hatch and out onto the tarmac.

Before he left he took her hand, bent, and kissed her. It wasn't exactly a brotherly kiss. "Promise you won't die on me again," he said.

"I promise." She waved as he walked away.

* * *

Anybody else when you see 'cambot' follow it up with "Gypsy, Tom Servo, Crooooow!"? Okay maybe it's just me. All of the gossip vids in this chapter are references from The Ashla Awareness. As you can see I'm still a big fan of the Lux/Soniee friend zone. I'm so happy these two got to pick up where they left off. Drop me a review if you get the chance.


	20. Comings and Goings

Yay! I finally get to introduce another favorite character! (Just so you know, I've loved him since season two) We know he was on Onderon around this period of time. He's fresh out of Imperial officer's training and ready to take on the galaxy!

Soniee does still have friends on Onderon. Just because one flew away doesn't mean another might be waiting in the wings.

* * *

Soniee watched him go and then began to wonder the spaceport looking around at the ships and beings going about their day to day business. The sights and sounds were as familiar as her Ordo'buir's shop. And out of her offensive dress and mask, in just the plain flight suit, she didn't seem to be causing any undue attention. She had friends here on Onderon. That is if they still wanted to be her friends but Lux seemed to think they would forgive her unfortunate family connections.

She still had more she wanted to learn, as well, about her mother and father. Seeing those old holos that Lux had found reignited the desire to really know what the were like. Soniee had only come to the point in the journal in which Melaana had just met Bremon. There was still so much of the story left to decipher.

And then there was just this place, this planet and its nearest moon. It was whispering to her, not words so much as a feeling. This was home in a way she couldn't describe.

She was looking up at the large crescent of Dxun waning in the sky when she felt the change come over the atmosphere. And then three black fighters swooped low over the space port. They had to be an escort for something bigger. She hated that she was right. She watched as the Imperial military transport dropped slowly out of the clouds and landed not far away.

A crowd was gathering to see what the excitement was all about and Soniee was carried along with the flow of people toward the landing site. It was probably nothing, just the changing of the guard, replacements coming to take over for the boys and girls in white plastoid who'd had enough of the deforested jungle planet. Still that didn't mean Soniee really wanted to meet them face to helmeted face.

She heard the whispers around her. Some of them were saying that the senator was told to report on the condition of his planet and that these new troops were a direct result of the information he had given to his Imperial masters.

That of course was ridiculous. Lux had only just left. There had been no time for a detachment like this to be put together. Soniee thought it more likely that they waited till he left to send an already planned occupation. That sounded more like the Empire to her. _Look loyal senator how well things are going for your people and your planet. Now come back to Coruscant while we press them under our thumb._

But there was still another reason for a greater Imperial presence. Soon it would be the first anniversary of the creation of the glorious new government. It had been almost a year since the end of the war. It had been almost a year since Oron Kryze had been born and died before Soniee had even the opportunity to hold him in her arms.

She hadn't thought of that till just now and the realization that the date would now be celebrated as a holiday, made her feel sick. She stopped in her tracks not paying any attention to the transport hatch opening or the troopers shoving people back to make way for the new arrivals.

She didn't think about what she did next she only felt what needed to be done. It all happened very fast. Soniee sensed the danger and she acted on instinct.

A little girl ran out past the line of troopers to catch a ball that had rolled out of her hands. Soniee reached out pulling both child and toy toward herself without the use of her hands, before a trooper could bash at the girl with the butt of his blaster rifle. He turned and instead went after Soniee. She fell to the ground as the child ran back to her mother.

"Get in my way, will you…" The trooper drew back his rifle for another blow and Soniee raised her hand defensively, but the blow never came.

She heard a deep voice with a well bred core accent admonishing his underling. And then, when she chanced a look up, she caught a flash of ginger facial hair.

"Korkie?" she exclaimed to her rescuer as he gently took her hand and helped her to her feet. Of course it wasn't him. It couldn't be him. He was parsecs away. She'd only been thinking of him since she remembered the anniversary of their child's birth.

The Imperial officer gave her a polite bow. "No, miss. My Name is Kallus, Agent Alexsandr Kallus. I think you may have confused me with someone else in your distress? Are you hurt? I'm sorry about…"

"I'm fine, Agent. Thank you." She looked away from him, brushing a bit of dust from her flight suit.

But he wasn't about to leave her alone and go back to his troops. She returned her gaze to him questioningly.

"It's er…" His cheeks colored. "You can call me Sandr."

 _Oh, Manda_ , she thought. Perhaps with her mere mention of Korkie's name, the feelings that were attached to her memories of him, she had somehow projected that air of affection toward this young officer. He did seem very taken her but perhaps it was just a hero complex. He had rescued her, in his own mind, and now…

"No, I…" she hedged. "I couldn't do that."

"I insist." He smiled. "And I must take you out for caff to make up for the inconvenience. It is still morning here on your planet, is it not? I've gone over the maps of the city in preparation for our arrival but I would appreciate the guidance of a native. I'm sure you know the best place for caff in the city."

Is that what this was about? Did he just want to be shown around and she was the first pretty face he had the opportunity to ask? Or was there something else? What if he had seen her use the Force to pull that girl out of danger? She didn't sense any of the animosity that she would expect from him if that were the case and he only meant to snare a rogue jedi, however.

"Maybe some other time." Soniee nodded as politely as she could.

She tried to back away into the crowd but he called out to her once again. "Where will I find you? I don't even know your name."

She was too flustered to think of what name to use and just called back, "I'm sure I'll see you around." before she made her escape.

She ran right into the arms of Zalyanov Skimanos. "Hey. You alright, Dara?"

"Zal, yes, I'm fine. I was just…"

"Fraternizing with the enemy." He shook his purple furred head mock severely. "Saw won't be too happy about that."

She studied the tall Lasat wondering if he had seen her slip up with her powers but he seemed only intent on teasing her.

Soniee smiled and rolled her eyes. "You caught me. I was trying to seduce an Imperial officer."

Zal grinned back at her. "Wouldn't take much. I hear you turned a lot of heads at the ball last night."

"Ugg," she groaned. "You heard about that?"

"I heard that you stole the show on the senator's arm before that little…" He said a word that must have come from his own language that was clearly meant to downplay the effects of what had actually happened. "And then when you found your proper partner…" He opened his eyes wide in question.

She didn't argue over his insinuation and she may have even blushed slightly as she tried to brush it off and probably had the opposite effect. "Saw and I hardly had time to twirl once around the dance floor."

"Ah but sometimes once is all it takes. Hmm?"

"Zal, it's not what you think…" she started to try to think of how to explain, when a dark hand descended on both of their shoulders.

Saw looked back and forth between them attempting to project carefree humor but he couldn't fool Soniee. He was agitated about something, more so than usual. "What's ol' Zal think?"

"I think you still got to dance with the prettiest girl at the ball even though she said she couldn't make it."

"I guess I did, at that." Saw's gaze traveled over her now in her baggy flight suit and informally tied back hair with no makeup or jewelry. What she sensed from him was not unlike what she had felt from the Agent a little while before but for some reason this didn't make her feel so uncomfortable. It was as if the feeling was expected and acceptable.

Saw's speech however turned to this morning's events and his attention to the Lasat. "And what did you think about the arrival of our new neighbors?"

"Ask Dara. She's already been introduced to the officer." Zal grinned. His pointy teeth would have looked fierce if she hadn't gotten to know him the past few months and could sense that he was still teasing her.

Soniee sighed and reported her findings. "His name is Kallus and he's an Agent, whatever that means. ISB I suppose."

"And he was interested in you?" Saw's concern showed the question, though he tried to play it off as incredulity.

"Well he wasn't around for the ball so he doesn't know my uncle was a usurping, tyrannical madman. Maybe he'll change his tune when he realizes I'm of the blood of a disgraced house."

"You're not…" Saw gave a frustrated sigh and paced a couple of steps and back with his hands on his hips. "Nobody thinks that's your fault."

"But I did announce it to the whole planet without checking up on the facts first." Soniee countered.

Zal raised his hands as if in surrender. "I'm just gonna go and let you two sort this out." He backed away and then turned and Soniee could only watch as his towering form bobbed away through the space port traffic.

"Dara," Saw began again after his friend was out of sight. "Is that still what you want to be called?"

"Yeah, I… That would probably be safest."

He nodded and continued. "We need to talk."

She took a shaky breath. "About my mother's traitorous family or maybe about the fact that I've known Lux since the time I spent on Coruscant?"

His jaw tensed at the mention of Senator Bonteri, but he just shook his head. "No, it's… It's something else."

His change in tone gave her pause. "Not here?"

"No. Somewhere private would be better."

…

Saw was glad that she came without question. They walked silently down the city street toward the nearest entrance to the tunnels. All the while he tried to think of how to bring up what he had seen, well, both things he had seen.

She had kissed Lux Bonteri. She had accepted his invitation to the ball and not Saw's. Then she had presumably spent the night with him. Saw had seen the senator step out of her ship not long ago before he left on his own vessel to go back to the core. And then as they said goodbye, they had kissed.

Saw couldn't let his personal feelings cloud what he really meant to talk to her about though. The other thing he had seen was much more serious. Even if she had no feelings for him, he still cared about her safety and if what he had seen… if it possibly meant…

"Alright." She stopped inside the entrance of the tunnel and seemed to relax a bit in the cool dark atmosphere. She was still curious though and seemed to be trying to appear annoyed at the inconvenience of this interview. She looked adorable. "What's this all about?"

"Back at the space port," He jumped right in, pacing back and forth as he tended to do with his pent up energy. He just couldn't stand still. "There was a little girl. That trooper was about to hurt her, to get her out of the way."

Dara froze. "You saw…"

"You pulled her away." He pressed.

"Well, I couldn't just leave her to be…"

Saw put a hand on her shoulder. "You used the Force."

"I didn't… You can't prove…" She breathed defensively.

Saw put his other hand on her other shoulder, keeping her rooted to the spot but as gently as he could. "I don't think anyone else saw. You're safe here but… if they had seen. If that officer had... " he swallowed hard not wanting to imagine the possibilities.

She pulled away from his hands and now it was her turn to pace. "I'm not a Jedi." She said softly. "I was never trained at their temple. They don't have me on any kind of wanted list. Anyone who knew thinks I'm dead. Lux thought I was dead."

She twisted her hands together and it had to be a trick of the light but Saw almost imagined he could see electricity buzzing around her. He could feel the charge in the air.

He didn't flinch away from her though. Wasn't this what he had always wanted after all, a Force user on their side of the fight? The Empire wasn't actively looking for her. But the way she had saved that girl, she obviously had power and knew how to wield it. But he didn't want to use her for her power, did he? No, of course not! She was Melaana and Bremon Kira's little girl. He had sworn to protect her.

"You're safe here," Saw repeated and he reached out to touch her arm again. They both received a static shock.

Dara jumped in surprise and what… horror? Then she looked away from him guiltily. "I don't know that anyone's safe anymore."

"That girl is safe now." He tried to encourage her. "She would have been hurt or even killed just for stepping in the Empire's way but you saved her."

She shook her head in disbelief.

Something occurred to him then that he hadn't thought of before. What if this was the reason that Uncle Brem had sent his wife and unborn child away? What if he had known of the power she would possess? Saw was glad now that he hadn't mentioned anything to the old man in the cave. He would have to make sure that Shara kept quiet about it too.

And what if Uncle Brem got wind of the ball last night? It wasn't terribly likely as the old hermit hardly ever listened to town gossip or cared to dabble in the political game.

"Dara," Saw said, using her prefered pseudonym and looking her in the eye. "I will keep your secret. No one is going to find out about this. But, forgive me if I'm wrong, you would like to use your powers to help… if you could get away with it."

"Of course I would." She sighed, surrendering to his reason and empathy. "Who could stand by and do nothing if people are in danger?"

So he had read her right, even without the benefit of the Jedi mind powers. She was like her mother. She couldn't stand the thought of another being suffering when she had the means to step in.

Dara was quiet and still a moment. Maybe she was repeating some sort of mantra to herself to calm her nerves. Saw had seen Ahsoka do something similar when she was here on Onderon working with them for the freedom of their people.

When she was more calm and collected, Dara looked up at him. "Thank you, for keeping my secret. I… I should talk to Dalla and Shara, apologize for my appearance last night."

"They know you didn't mean anything by it. They don't blame you for not knowing what went on before you got here." He insisted.

"Well, maybe." She shrugged. "But I'd still like for them to hear it from me. And maybe it will help me understand a little better what my family was like."

He wanted to tell her right then just how amazing her mother had been but he stayed quiet on that point and smiled. "I'll walk you over there if you like. 'Sides I want to see if they managed to get the place cleaned up."

"Cleaned up?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, You should have seen the place last night."

She laughed and he was glad to see her humor return. He meant to keep her in a better mood.

"What happened last night?" She asked, then sobered a bit. "The boys didn't continue their fight after…"

"No." He assured her. "It was the littles they left back at home, half-shaved that big ol' norcog they brought with them from up north. Lana said the poor thing was too hot down here in Iziz."

"Awe. How sweet."

"Ha." Saw laughed. "The captain didn't think so. They used his beard trimmer to do the job. Fur everywhere!"

Her eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Manda! What a thing to come home to after everything else."

"Nice distraction, I'd say." He shrugged.

She frowned at him. "And now that it's over, they have a house to clean and an arch enemy's niece to worry about."

"Dara?" He decided to try a different tact. "Did you know that your uncle captured me and had me tortured for information?"

She gaped at him. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Again he shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe not. The point is, it was Sanjay Rash that did it, not you. You weren't here. You didn't know it was happening. You didn't even know you were related to the guy. And if you were here and you did know, do you really think you could have put a stop to it?"

"Maybe." She answered softly.

He didn't know if she was thinking of her Force powers or of the chance she might have had of appealing to relative. It was beside the point. He rolled his eyes. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm still here talking to you. I'm not going to turn my back on a friend because you wore some kriffing dress in front of a bunch of kriffing people." He looked sideways at her to catch her grudging smile. "And the Blackwells won't either."

"Well, thank you." She said and she meant it.

"Hey." He stopped her before they reached the house. "Your mom was pretty keen, wasn't she? You've been reading about her in that journal?"

"Elek."

"I'd love to hear about her. How about if I show you some more of the Onderon where she grew up and you read me some of what you've managed to translate so far?"

She thought it over and then slowly smiled at the idea. "I could prove to you that she really was a good person and that, back then anyway, her family wasn't so bad."

"Yeah." He grinned.

"Alright. Maybe we can start after I get this over with the Blackwells."

"And I'll be with you the whole time for back up."


	21. I Know That You Feel Me Somehow

Meanwhile on mandalore… I did a few of these chapters back in the Ashla Spectrum while Soniee was on Coruscant and Korkie was still back on Manda'yaim. Now they find themselves apart once again, and though the chorus of the Goo Goo Dolls Iris was perfect for Soniee, the first verse is more fitting for the boy she left behind.

And I'd give up forever to touch you  
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow  
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be  
And I don't wanna go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment  
And all I can breathe is your life  
When sooner or later it's over  
I just don't wanna miss you tonight

* * *

 **Small rant (with spoilers for Rebels season 4) :**

During the second episode of the fourth season of Rebels we were given an extremely brief info dump of what had happened on Mandalore in the years following the siege. Supposedly during this time the Jedi set up Bo Katan Kryze as the new leader in the place of her sister but she couldn't hold the position and what? Went into hiding or something until some kid who can make bombs and happened upon the dark sabre says, "Oh no I can't be the leader even though everybody wants me to be even though i developed a horrible weapon that can only be used against our people who are too stubborn to wear anything different. You be the leader instead." (honestly I do like Sabine but this was really unbelievable)

Here's the thing: numeral uno: the only person the Jedi council sent to help the Mandalorians during the siege was a teenage ex-padawan with half of the 501st battalion. What authority did Ahsoka have to set anybody up as leader even if they were heir by blood. And what self respecting Mando'ad would have listened to her if she tried?

And letter 'B': we know from the Ahsoka novel that the clones turned on her while the battle was still going on. If Ahsoka and Bo were teamed up and fighting side by side and the clones start shooting at Ahsoka, who's side is Bo gonna take? The clones are shooting at her now too. So if the clones are taking orders from the brand spanking new Emperor and Bo is fighting against them, and since Bo called on the help of the Jedi and the Jedi are now enemy number one, her reign as ruler of the system had to be extremely short.

 **End rant (and spoilers)**

I plan to go on with the direction my story has been going all along and just say that the Empire, happy with their puppet prime minister Almec left him in charge and tried to pretend like everything was hunky dory after the siege was over and peace returns and let's rebuild the old Royal Academy of Government as one of the first Imperial Academies to churn out nice loyal cookie cutter cadets.

* * *

He had heard her call his name. It was as clear as if she had been right beside him. In fact when he had woken from a deep sleep the first thing he did was roll over and reach for her in the bed they had once shared has husband and wife. But she wasn't there. Hadn't been there for almost a year. As every world claimed by the Empire planned to celebrate the first standard year under that glorious new blanket of leadership, Korkie could only think that he and Soniee should be celebrating their son's first lifeday.

Mandalore was claimed by the Empire after all. The capital city of Sundari was the home to one of the first Imperial Academies, built from the ruins of the Royal Academy of Government. Now the cadets learned to shoot straight, march in lines, follow orders and were fitted for their identical white plastoid uniforms.

The mines on Concordia were back to full production but none of the ore was staying in the system it was all being shipped elsewhere for processing. Mandal Motors in Keldabe had been pressed into service for the Imperial war machine as well. After all the last of the Separatist holdouts had to be put down and the Empire must be ready incase any similar insurgency attempted to threaten our new era of peace and prosperity.

Even far to the north of the planet the village of Encari had grown to accommodate their new peacekeepers. The storm trooper barracks at the edge of town and the armed, white-clad soldiers patrolling the streets were a constant reminder that the Empire was here to stay.

Korkie saw a pair of them even in the middle of the night. He had quickly thrown on some clothes to get out of the house and take a walk. There they were looking for some excuse to use their limited authority.

"Hey there," One of them shouted at him and pointed. "What are you doing out after curfew?" The voice was male but the accent was foreign. Of course the Empire wouldn't send Mandalorians to police their own. No chance of sympathetic brotherhood there, although they were all supposed to be citizens of the Empire.

Korkie would have liked to attack, to demand to know why they would submit to such an evil, tyrannical institution but it would have done no good. One man against the entire galactic system. So he raised his hands to show he wasn't armed and said as gently as he could, "Couldn't sleep, mates. Just went out for a breath of fresh air."

The second trooper gestured with the standard issue blaster that was hopefully just set to stun, in case it accidentally went off. "Well, you've had it. Now get on back inside until the sun rises." Her voice was female and a different sort of alien. It was odd to hear a woman's voice come out of the identical armor as her companion.

Korkie had gotten used to hearing the voices of the clones, all variations of the Fett genotype, just like his friend Fox, come out of the helmet speakers. But even they had modified their armor to show that they were individuals. And the female Mando'ade might be just as comfortable in their _beskar'gam_ and _buyce_ but their armor was forged individually to fit them personally. It was easy to forget that inside the colorless, genderless, storm trooper get up that somebody's son or daughter, brother or sister, served a thankless machine.

"On my way, Ma'am." Korkie turned back toward the house. He didn't have to be a Jedi to feel them watching him go. They were probably bored out of their wits and welcomed the opportunity to tell someone off during the night shift. He wasn't in a hurry, however to make their evening any more exciting.

As he approached the house he slowed. He remembered waking up one night, it seemed so long ago now, after Soniee's Momma was killed in the explosion of Concord Dawn. Soniee had woken and yet not woken, leaving their bed and coming out here to the square. She had climbed up into the besilyk war droid and had begun to pace it up and down the street while reciting epic poetry.

Korkie looked at the square almost as if he could see her there now. If only she was. If only she was still with him on the same planet. But she wasn't here and she wasn't calling to him from wherever she was, parsecs away.

Lagos had gotten a hang-up comm from Onderon a couple of months ago. Could that have been her? Could she have been in trouble, trying to reach out? Was she in trouble now? It didn't feel that way when she touched his mind earlier. It had felt like…

"Hey you!" The male trooper called as the two of them started to pick up their pace in their pursuit. Both of them had blasters drawn now. "What's the hold up? We told you to move along home."

"Oh yes. I…" Korkie looked back at the door to his own house that he had been standing in front of while his mind wondered. He couldn't go back in there right now. He feigned confusion. "It's the wrong door. Couldn't tell in the dark or maybe I'm more tired than I thought."

"Well you'd better figure it out or we'll find you a bed in the lockup." The female voice grumbled.

"Right." Korkie nodded and pointed at the next house. "This is the one." He knew the code for the Jerecs' home for emergencies and entered it as easily as he would his own. "Thanks for the escort." He called back to the troopers. "I can't tell you how much safer we all feel with you all around to protect us." Then he didn't wait around for a response. He shut the door, reactivated the locking mechanism, and leaned back on it with a sigh.

Lagos was down the stairs in a moment with baby Veeka in one arm and a charged hold out blaster in the other. She looked like the epitome of the Mando buir ready to defend her home and family by any means necessary. "Korkie, it's you." She lowered the weapon with a sigh of relief. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep." He said shakily now that the excitement was over and the adrenaline began to drain away leaving him feeling weak. "I was just going to take a walk and get some air but…"

"You forgot about the curfew." Lagos set the blaster on the table and shifted Veeka to the other arm.

" _Elek_ , I forgot about the curfew." He slumped.

"Come on. I was up with her anyway. I'll put on some shig and you can tell me about your insomnia." She turned and led the way to the kitchen.

"We won't bother Fox and Tracen will we?" Korkie asked, but part of him didn't care. He was just glad not to be alone tonight.

"Nah. _Buir bal ad_! Those two could sleep through anything."

Korkie gave an uncomfortable nod. Like father, like son. Fox and Tracen were not actually blood related, but the boy couldn't ask for a more doting patriarch. Korkie liked to think it would have been like that with his son but he'd never know. His son was gone and he'd lost Soniee the same day, not to the Manda or the Force or wherever, but he'd lost her all the same.

He sniffed and Lagos must have noticed because she turned away from strapping Veeka into her swing and frowned at him sympathetically. "Kork. You were dreaming about her, weren't you?"

"It…" He plopped down into one of the dining chairs, with his elbows on the table, his head bowed and his hands tangled in his hair. "It wasn't a dream. It wasn't much of anything but for a brief moment I could feel her call out to me."

"From Onderon. Where she is alive and well." Lagos was a little less sympathetic when it came to the fact that he had kept this information from her.

"I don't know. Well, I mean yes, I know she's alive, somewhere…"

She let him remain silent for a couple of minutes and then when he wasn't forthcoming with any more information, she pressed, "Well, what was this contact like? Did she seem angry? Sad? Was she in trouble of some kind?"

"No, no." He was trying to remember what it was. "She was happy, I think and then… embarrassed?"

"Oh." Lagos went back to preparing the shig.

"Oh? What oh?" Korkie asked.

"It…" she seemed to be trying to find a way to put this gently. "You remember when she was on Coruscant. She was with Fox but she wasn't quite awake and she said your name…"

"Kriff." He was up out of his seat and pacing. "You don't think she was… is… with someone else?"

"Korkie." She said softly. "You named her _cuy'val dar_. It's not a stretch to think that she might start her life over with someone else."

He swore again, punched the wall, and then rubbed at sore knuckles.

Lagos glanced up at the ceiling as if checking to see if her husband or son would come running at the noise. She looked at her daughter who was too young to start repeating the words she heard come out of Uncle Korkie's mouth. Then she sighed, "But…"

"But what?" He stared at her grasping at hope.

"Well, it might not mean anything… but if she said your name. It's been almost a year. I can't help but think that means she still has feelings for you."

He closed his eyes and slipped back down into the chair. It was like a punch to the stomach and his greatest wish granted all at once. He didn't want to get his hopes up. He couldn't. He had let her go to save her from the Empire. He couldn't hang on to the dream of their being together.

A sob escaped him and then the tears came. Lagos left what she was doing and went to put her arms around him.

"She… she deserves to move on and be happy," he croaked.

" _Shabla di'kut_!" Lagos swatted him affectionately. "If you miss her this much and you can sense that she misses you, why don't you go and find her? Surely if you searched. We could start looking on Onderon. You know she wanted to see where her birth mother was from. Or she was friends with that senator Bonteri. Fox knew him too. Maybe we could contact him and ask if he's heard anything."

"Lux Bonteri thought she was dead after Concord Dawn. And besides Fox still needs to keep a low profile as well. And where would we start looking on a whole planet, even if we could… No!" Korkie shook his head fiercely. "I shouldn't even be considering this! I can't start digging around to find her and put the Empire on her trail."

Lagos hated to see him like this. She had fought so hard to get the two of them together. She had been so sure that they were meant to be. But if he couldn't bring himself to go to her, to try to make it work… She remembered how lost and confused Soniee had seemed when Korkie was missing while she was on Coruscant. Finally she sighed and looked up at her friend who was now on his feet and pacing. "Then you should find a way to contact her and let her know that you officially let her go."

His expression was so full of hurt and betrayal that in broke Lagos' heart. "I can't. I will never break my vows to her. If she… if she wants to move on and find someone else then I won't blame her. I'll understand. But for my part _Ni kar'tayl kaysh, darasuum_."

"Then what will you do? Stay here and torture yourself?"

"No."

She started. "No? You're leaving? You've thought about this?"

"I have." He gave a single determined nod. "You're right. I can't stay here. Especially not with… Empire Day coming up." He ground his teeth. "Fenn asked me some time ago but I hadn't given him an answer. He's taking a few of the old protectors and setting up a base on Concord Dawn."

"But Concord Dawn was destroyed." Veeka began fussing and Lagos when to pick her up but she hardly took her eyes off Korkie.

"The geologist say that what's left of the planet has settled. There are no more quakes and it's perfectly positioned in the system as an outpost."

"He wants you to help build this outpost?" She asked.

"Yeah, build it and then stay to man it after it's built." He looked at he like he was asking her permission.

"Well you've trained with them, proved yourself in battle along side them. I think he's made a fine choice."

He nodded.

"Trace will miss you." She bounced the fussy baby on her hip. "So will Fox. And… and I'll miss you, _di'kut_."

"Well, it's not like I'll be going away forever. I can come back and see you all. You know where I'm going. We can comm back and forth any time." _Not like Soniee_.

"When?" She asked after a pause.

"Like I said, he's been asking for a while. I could probably head out tomorrow." He glanced at the chrono on the panel of the reheater. "Or uh later today I guess."

Lagos took a deep breath and then she might have been hurt or angry or just determined to do what needed to be done. "Alright, when the curfew's lifted, we'll help you get packed.

Korkie was a little disappointed. He had thought they might fight harder to get him to stay. Still, he couldn't back out now. And this would before the best, he tried to convince himself. There was nothing left for him in Encari. It was better for him to go someplace he could be useful. "Thank you, Lagos. I appreciated your support in this."

"What are friends for?"

…

Elsewhere on Manda'yaim, Prime Minister Almec was also entertaining an unexpected late night guest.

"Relax, Prime Minister." The being, Almec had no idea what species she might be lounged on the throne not unlike the way Maul had done or Pre Viszla for a short while before him. Almec had become used to bowing and scraping before the next tyrant in line to keep his own head on his shoulders. Of course this helmeted creature was not the one in charge. She answered to a higher authority. Still it didn't hurt to show a little deference to the hired help. "We don't want to hurt you or cause any upheaval to your peaceful society. That's why I arrived in the off hours so we might speak privately."

"I do appreciate your discretion." He bowed but he had no idea by what title to address her. He had gathered that this was one of the rumored inquisitors who were dispatched to hunt down the last of the Jedi. And if this one had only half the power of some of the Force users he'd had the opportunity to witness in action, he definitely didn't want to cross her. But then he supposed if her boss was inclined to let him live and continue in his position, then he didn't have a whole lot to worry about from her.

"What we need from you right now is simple? Just a little information. We want to know everything about your former employer. The zabrak trusted you, did he not? Well, at least he let you live so that has to count for something." Was she making a joke?

"I was never privy to his long term plans only the part which concerned me directly. But of course I would be glad to help in any way I can." And so he told her everything he could remember about Maul and his brother, and how they had worked with the death watch and then double crossed the terrorist to gain control themselves.

He told her of how Maul went into hiding and for a while he had still received instructions.

"This was after the death of his brother, correct?"

"Yes." Almec continued. "I believe he went back to his home planet of Dathomir in an effort to secure help from the surviving night sister witches."

"We know all that." She sat up and rested her chin on her templed fingers. "What we'd like to know is if Maul was in contact with any other Force users here on Mandalore. Was he, for instance, trying to train another apprentice."

"No, I…" He stopped and considered.

"What is it? You remember something?"

"There was a girl." he rubbed his throat thinking of her. "She was untrained but powerful. He kept a close eye on her but kept her at a distance. I believe he may have been wary of taking on a student after what happened to his brother."

"Yes? What happened to this girl?" the inquisitor asked.

"She was killed in the disaster at Concord Dawn."

"You are sure she was on the planet at the time of the explosion?"

"I…" was he sure? Her home and her adopted mother were there on the planet. "Come to think of it, no. It was always assumed that she was there when it happened but there was never any proof. Half the planet was gone and tectonic shifts in what was left of it made it impossible for crews to go and provide aid for some time. It is possible, I suppose that she was not on the planet at the time."

"Who was this girl?"

"Her name was Soniee Ordo. She was…"

"The Mandalorian representative to the Republic senate."

Almec nodded. "Yes, that's correct."

"And _she_ was a powerful Force sensitive?" she sounded incredulous.

"Yes." Again Almec rubbed at his own throat. "She was."


	22. Cleanup

So we had our little interlude on Manda'yaim and now we're back on Onderon with Saw and Dara's arrival at his old house to have a chat with the Blackwells.

note: if you're reading this and Polaris at the same time you might want to jump over there and read the most recent chapter (#61) before you read this one. There's a tiny spoiler in this chapter for that one since that one took place about 3 years before this one… and you might want a box of tissues for that one… this one's not quite a tearjerker, but it's still good.

* * *

Kason didn't appear thrilled to see the return of Saw Gerrera to the house while he over saw his brothers and cousin cleaning up the fur that covered everything. His face brightened however when he saw the young woman who followed his rival. "Dara! You're still here! We were afraid you might have left Onderon all together!"

"No, I'm still here." She gave him a small smile that hopefully didn't come across as too encouraging.

"She wanted to talk your mom and your cousin." Saw stayed beside her protectively. "Are they around?" He didn't know when he would get the chance but he knew he had to warn them not to mention Bremon.

"Momma and Dalla are in the kitchen." Arkon smiled. He was almost as covered in fur as the cog was the last time Dara had seen it.

Beside him Cornel was gathering together piles of the fur in various sizes and arranging them in some pattern that didn't make any sense to her. And then it reminded Dara of something. She knelt down beside him. "It's a map."

The little boy paused for a moment and nodded and then went back to his work.

"Are they islands?" She guessed.

Again he nodded. Kason came over and looked as well. He tilted his head first one way and then the other. Then a smile came over his features and he pointed. "That biggest one must be Blackhold."

Cornel smiled proudly still not looking at any of them but he pointed at a slightly smaller 'island' that was a little ways up and to the left of the first, "Harkon Hall." Then he pointed to one way off to the right, "Bralyk Keep," and then to a small one down and even further right, "Flint Locke."

"Dad needs to see this. It's really great, Corns," Kason encouraged his little brother.

While Dara was interested in the map-making, Saw bent down and whispered to her. "I'm going to go let Dalla and Shara know you're here, so it won't come as a surprise."

She looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you."

She seemed to be perfectly well taken care of pointing out smaller piles of fur and asking the boys about the islands in their northern sea. Still Saw watched her as he slipped out of the room.

He found the other women in the kitchen just has he had been told. Dalla had a slice of Meiloorun halfway to her mouth when she saw him and lowered it again. "So you're still speaking to us?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, also taking a slice of the fruit from the bowl where Shara was depositing it after cutting. She swatted his hand but not before she allowed him to take what he wanted.

Dalla rolled her eyes. "Lux must have already left the planet so you're not worried about running into him here."

"He has actually," Saw said after chewing and swallowing. "But I managed to keep somebody else from flying away." he took another bite of the fresh fruit and spoke with a full mouth. "She's in the living room with the boys."

"I'm sure it was only your talking her into it that made up her mind." Shara smiled.

He shrugged. "She says she's not finished learning about her mom either. Told her I might show her some of the sites that her mom would have liked."

"And her father?" Shara asked pointedly. "I'm sure she would like to know what's become of him as well?"

"She can't!"

The women were both taken aback at the force of his denial.

"What I mean to say is…" He covered. "He sent she and her mother away before she was even born and never went looking for her?"

"And I'm sure if he knew that she survived…"

"We can't tell him, Aunt Shara." He pleaded with her.

"I don't know Saw." She sighed. "I think she deserves to know, and Brem as well. If we'd been honest with her about Melaana, we might have avoided what happened at the ball."

"Her father _is_ Bremon Kira, then?" Dalla asked, finally getting a word in edgewise.

Saw nodded. "I thought Steela told you the story about Mel and Uncle Brem and their baby."

"Aye, she did, but I never really put it together that Bremon Kira's wife was the same Mel who was Sanjay Rash's little sister. Salt gods, it really is like a Bard's play."

"Yeah. And that's why we really can not tell her that her dad's been out there grieving all these years," Saw insisted.

"Yet." Shara finally grudgingly agreed. "We might not tell her yet. But she does need to know eventually and so does he."

"I promise, Aunt Shara." Saw placed his hand over his heart as if it were a solemn oath. "As soon as the time is right, I'll tell her myself."

"Hey Shar, you gotta come and see this." Captain Jamos stuck his head in the kitchen door just then.

"What is it?" She set down the knife and fruit and wiped her hands on her apron.

"Just come and see!" Her excited husband waved her forward and the rest of them followed. "What do you see?" he asked when they all reached the living room.

"I see norcog hair that still hasn't been cleaned up like we asked." Shara frowned, still missing the point.

"Told you she was gonna be mad." Arkon whispered.

"No, no look closer." Jamos took her shoulders and lead her to a different spot in the room. Then he pointed and tilted his own head. "Just there."

She glanced at her husband curiously and then mimicked the way he tilted his head and she saw it. "It looks just like one of your charts!"

"Corns did it! Can you believe that? It's the whole Northern Sea!"

While they exclaimed over their son's masterpiece in cog fur, Dara sidled up to Saw and whispered. "So you warned them that I'm here?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "Guess they're a little distracted."

"Well, nobody's tried to kick me out yet." She murmured.

Saw scoffed. "I told you I'd have your back." His hand found hers and gave it a squeeze and she looked up at him with a grateful smile.

And then someone finally noticed that she was in the room and that her hand was being held by Saw. The silent staring of first one member of the Blackwell family and then another, gave it away. Dara blushed and extricated her hand from his. Saw gazed at her and grinned.

"I um…" She began. "I wanted to come and apologize to you all for last night. I really had no idea that my dress would cause such a stir. It was just so spur of the moment, and I had just learned about my mother's family. And I _had_ heard the name of the king years ago but I didn't put it together until…" here she looked up at Saw and he nodded his encouragement. "I'm just so sorry that I offended you and ask if you will please forgive me."

"Of course we forgive you!" Dalla was the first to cross the room to the contrite girl.

Shara shook her head and also came to her. "There's nothing to forgive."

And then she was surrounded by a tide of Blackwells hugging her and assuring her of their friendship. She looked over the heads of the little ones and smiled at Saw. Of course he had been right.

"Let her breathe!" Saw finally waded in and rescued her, laughing, from the sea of people.

After that she had to apologize to Cornel for everyone trampling over his beautiful map. He nodded at her, a little disappointed, and Jamos returned them all to their cleaning project.

"Why don't you come join us in the kitchen?" Shara suggested, wrapping her arm around Dara's shoulders and leading the way.

There were a few cries from the little ones who wanted to get out of their chore but their father held them to their task and Dara was gladly ushered into the kitchen by the other ladies. She and Dalla and Shara, all three, had to brush a bit of fur off their clothes and wash their hands before the meal prep could be resumed. Dara was given a few shura fruits to peel and the three of them enjoyed the relative quiet while they worked.

And then one of the children called Shara away and Dara and Dalla were alone. The silence stretched. Not because they didn't want to say anything to each other because they were angry. There was just so much and neither of them knew where to begin.

Dalla, for her part had been up half the night thinking of things she'd like to tell Dara or ask her, but after what Saw had said, his plea that Dara not be told that her father was alive and just a few kliks outside of the city gates, it was like there was a rampaging fambaa in the room that they weren't supposed to talk about.

Finally Dara spoke up. "I still can't believe that my uncle tried to force you to marry him."

"I lived through it and I can still hardly believe it myself." Dalla smiled. And then the dam broke and the words came more easily.

"It must have been awful. Did he actually kidnap you and bring you to Iziz?"

"I came to Iziz of my own accord, if you can believe it. Kason had gotten mixed up in things and the king was holding him at the palace. He tried to say that Kason was his stepson and perhaps groom him to be the heir to the throne."

"Because your aunt was once married to him?" Dara asked.

"Aye, that's right. I came down south in secret hoping that somehow I could figure out a way to get the help of the Rebels and free Kase."

"And that's when you met Lux and Saw and... Steela."

Dalla saddened a little at the mention of the name. "Aye. They became my allies and my friends and so much more." She remembered the battles fought together and victories won and she remembered after the rescue from the steps of the palace when she and Steela had brought Thias and Kase to stay at Bremon Kira's home to get them out of the way of the final push to take back the city. She remembered the sadness in the old man's eyes, and she remembered Steela telling her his story how he had lost his wife and unborn child. Salt gods, she was sitting here talking to that child now!

Suddenly Dalla hopped up off her stool. "Wait right here!"

Dara laughed. "I'm not going anywhere." She went back to peeling the fruit while Dalla ran out of the room.

She came back a few minutes later with an old book in her hands. "You need to see this."

Dara wiped the fruit juice off her hands on a towel before she reached for the book. It opened like her mother's journal and other Onderonian texts at what would have been the back in plain Aurebesh books. Inside the cover there was a handwritten dedication. " _Melaana, may the wind always be in your sails_." Dara read, " _From_ …" she looked up at Dalla. " _From, Lana Flint?"_

"My mother."

"Our mothers knew each other?"

Dalla nodded and then shrugged. "Well sort of. They met once. Your mother's family came to Blackhold for a holiday when she was little, around nine years old I think. She wanted to see everything so my mother showed her around. I guess your mother made an impression on her."

The girls shared a smile and Dara cradled the book reverently. "So perhaps we might have been friends. Maybe they would have gotten back in touch."

"Maybe the universe meant for us to be friends anyway and that's why we've met now." Dalla hadn't always believed in the Force but working with the Jedi during the war had made her wonder if there was something bigger than just their northern salt gods directing everything. There were too many coincidences otherwise.

Dara looked again at the cover of the book. " _The Adventures of Sanya Harkon_. This was one of her favorites. She mentioned it in her journal. It was part of the reason she wanted to be a pilot. It's what she wanted to name her daughter someday."

"Sanya Kira. That should have been your name." Dalla mused.

"My adoptive mother misheard her, or I suppose she just didn't know how to spell it. That's why my given name is Soniee. How did you even come to have this? If your mother gave it to mine then…"

Dalla hesitated and then admitted. "I found it with Sanjay Rash's things after he died. He kept it after his sister flew away."

"He still loved her." Dara said sadly.

"His last thoughts were of her when he died. He was sorry for what he had done because he knew she wouldn't have approved."

"You were with him?"

Dalla nodded. "Only a few people know that, and I'd kind of like to keep it that way. The battle was still going on in the streets." she remembered. "I was the first one to reach the palace. He had been shot by his own men or droids, whatever."

"And he was thinking of his sister?" It did make her feel a little better her uncle's untimely end.

"And Aunt Shara," Dalla added. "He was completely obsessed with her."

Dara laughed awkwardly.

"Speaking of obsessed…" The northern girl raised her eyebrows teasingly. "I have never seen Saw look at anybody the way he looks at you."

"What?" Dara blushed. "No. We're friends. And I can't. I told you, back on Mandalore…"

"But you eloped didn't you? By Onderonian law that's not actually a legal marriage."

"That may be, but for Mandalorians when we say the words to each other it's binding, no matter who says anything about it. Besides my Momma was there. She witnessed our vows and I believe we had his father's blessing though his mother had died…"

"So you still consider yourself to be married to him?" Dalla asked.

"Well, I… I don't know. You see the vows, the words we say… It's also only a matter of words to … end a marriage."

"You think he might have said those words."

Dara nodded but frowned. "Maybe. He named me _Cuy'val dar_. It means 'those who no longer exist'. I think he meant it to protect me. Better that my enemies thought I had died."

"You're… dead to him." That was a little more final than just a divorce in Dalla's opinion. "You can't even contact him to ask him if he said the words?"

Dara shook her head.

"Well, you can't sit around waiting all your life. You have to move on. If you've met someone new…"

"Lux said something similar." Dara rolled her eyes.

"Aye?" Dalla smiled. "He's a smart guy, that senator. Do you like Saw?"

"I like spending time with him," She admitted. The truth was he felt as much like home as this planet did. It was like he and Onderon were one in her mind and in the Force. She felt like he was part of her past or perhaps part of her future.

"Then maybe spend a little more time with him, see what happens?"

Dara didn't answer right away. She seemed to be considering, biting her lip. Then she countered. "Well if I'm going to be stealing your fake husband, I think you ought to consider mine as well."

"I thought you said you weren't able to contact…"

"Not him." Dara corrected quickly. "Lux!"

"Lux?" Dalla sighed. "You know my parents actually considered a marriage alliance with the Bonteris when we were children?"

"Well, see. It was meant to be. At least you know both sets of parents approve."

"Aye… I guess so. He hasn't been very lucky in love."

"No he hasn't," Dara agreed. "That's why he needs someone stable and suitably noble." She finished with a snooty accent. "Lady of the north and Lord of the south? It really couldn't be more perfect."

"What about you though? You're a Kira! Isn't that right? That story about Oron and Galia. The Kiras married into the royal family a thousand years ago. You are the princess of Onderon."

"I think people would think twice about making me princess of anything with the history of my mother's family. Even if I wanted to be, which I don't," she might have been the next duchess of Mandalore once upon a time. She wasn't about to jump at the chance to be the monarch of another system especially one she knew so very little about. "No one is going to want a half Rash leader after the last one was such a tyrant."

Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth she thought of something Korkie had once said… " _If you're calculating the logistics, you're considering the possibility_." Was she? No. She still had no legal proof, only the writings of a teenage girl.

"Hmm. Maybe you're right." Dalla didn't sound like she believed it. "You really think me and Lux? We're good friends, I suppose."

"Better than a man old enough to be your father who's still obsessed with your aunt." Dara smiled and she was glad she was able to joke about her poor misguided uncle.

"Salt gods, Aye!" Both girls laughed.

"My aunt and your uncle, we're practically cousins!" Then Dalla asked, "So you are planning on staying on Onderon?"

" _Elek_. I think so. For a while anyway. I don't know where else I would go, really."

"I'm glad. Wish I could stay down here in Iziz for a while longer but my father needs me back up at the Hold."

They had become more solemn with the subject of parting.

"We'll comm each other all the time." Dara promised. She so missed her long talks with Lagos and her short time with her new friend had been such a balm to a tired soul. "When do you leave?"

"Soon," Dalla sighed and then smiled. "It'll probably depend on how quickly they can get that cog fur cleaned up."

Dara chuckled.

"What are you two laughing about?" Saw sauntered into the kitchen and stole another piece of fruit from the bowl that had been left forgotten. He placed a hand on Dara's shoulder as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Dalla lifted her eyebrows at the gesture and Dara rolled her eyes but she didn't shrug him away. "Cog fur." She told him.

"Ah, well they're almost finished cleaning it up. Once Aunt Shara got in there and started laying down the law they all snapped into shape."

The girls frowned at each other again in unspoken disappointment that their leave taking was imminent.

"Maybe we should go throw some more around so it takes them longer to clean up." Dalla suggested and that got them both laughing once again.

…

The next day Saw and Dara along with a few other Iziz friends were gathered on the docks to watch the _Polaris_ hoist sail and begin its journey back up the river toward the sea. There were wishes for a safe journey and promises to keep in touch and jokes and laughter tossed back and forth with good humor. And Dara insisted that they stay until the very last view of the mast was lost behind a bend in the river.

She hated parting, especially since so many of her goodbyes had been final ones with no hope of reuniting with friends and family. She hugged her mother's journal that she had brought with her today. She had finally shown it to Shara who had flipped through the pages, that she could read easily, with tears in her eyes. She didn't give away the ending. But she thanked Dara for the opportunity to see it and gave her student a hug.

"So are you ready now?" Saw asked and she wondered whether he had been a little impatient for the Blackwells to be on their way to get her to himself.

"Tell me again what we're doing?" Dara asked him.

"Just going for a little ride. And you promised to read me a bit of that book you've got there."

"Alright." She agreed a little hesitantly. She was remembering the dalgos ride and thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She didn't want to tell him that though. "Lead the way."

He had a dalgo tethered near the dock but instead of going to it Saw led her right past it and toward the city gate.

"We're not taking Star?" she asked, looking back at the animal who was happily munching some sort of protein feed out of a trough.

"Nope. Got something a little different planned."

"Should I be worried?"

Saw grinned. "Not if you're really a Kira like that book says you are."

They would have walked out of the gates freely without a second thought if someone hadn't stopped them.

"You there." Came the voice as the young man in Imperial gray came rushing towards them. "I'm so sorry I never did catch your name. I'm Sandr in case you didn't remember."

Saw crossed his arms over his chest jealously as he waited for Dara to finish the interview.

She for her part, nodded politely. "I remember."

Agent Alexsandr Kallus didn't seem to have noticed Saw. "So what am I supposed to call you?" He smiled. "I do still owe you a caff."

"Her name is Dara." Saw stepped forward and extended a hand. "I'm Saw and you are?"

The two of them looked as if they were trying to crush one another's hands as they shook.

"ISB Agent Kallus." The ginger haired man practically growled in response. Then he turned, straightened his uniform jacket and addressed Dara once again. "I do hope you'll allow me to fulfill my promise on another day when you aren't busy."

"Promise?" she asked, distracted by the tension between them. "Oh the caff, yes, well, perhaps? Sometime?"

His smile was full of victorious pride. "Tomorrow? Mid morning? I've found a place that the troopers speak highly of. It's near the market on Fifth Street?"

She glanced over at Saw, who was steaming, before she answered, "I know the place."

"Then you will meet me there?" He asked, full of hope.

"I'll try. If I'm out that way." She didn't exactly promise.

Saw swore under his breath.

"Well, I'll see you then, tomorrow. You won't forget?"

"I'm sure I won't." She nodded with another polite half-smile, just glad he was retreating without a fight.

"Good day to you both." He gave them a slight bow and then turned and nearly ran smack into a falumpaset.

Saw laughed out loud as they watched the imperial offer his apologies to the owner of the beast and then look back to wave to Dara that he was okay. She swatted Saw with the back of her hand and then waved back.

"Come on." Saw was actually smiling. "Let's do what the man said."

"What?" Dara asked, confused.

"He told us both to have a good day. That's what I thoroughly plan on doing." He offered his arm as if to formally escort her and she took it with a wary smile. "Would have been better if the beast had trampled him for his trouble."

"Sawyer Drokko Gerrera!" She called him by his full name exactly like Shara would have.

Again he laughed. "You're not really going to meet him for caff, are you?"

"Maybe I will. It would be silly for me to turn down a free cup."

He studied her for a moment trying to judge her motives but she kept a straight face and gave nothing away.

"Alright." He shook his head. "We'll see how you feel about it after today."

They started walking again out the gates, across the bridge over river and out into the open land that had once been covered by trees.

"Where are we going?"

"Just a little further." He told her and as they came over the next rise she thought she saw his chosen destination.

"That's a…" She was almost afraid to say it. She knew what they were. She had seen them fly in the distance and had just begun to read how much her mother loved them.

"It's a ruping."

She couldn't deny the majesty of the creature as they approached it. It still terrified her, especially when they drew close and she saw how very big the beast was.

"He likes you." Saw said gently, close to her ear. Even so she jumped. He took her hand and held it up toward the creature's muzzle. It nuzzled against her, taking in her scent.

"How can you tell?" she asked.

Saw chuckled. "You'd know if he didn't."

She was still hesitant but was beginning to relax at least with this part of the process. "What's his name?"

It was an Onderonian word and he explained, "It means 'Sky King'."

Dara pronounced the word carefully and the beast nodded as if he understood his own name. She smiled.

"So you ready to ride him?"

"What? Now?" she nearly panicked.

"You don't have to do anything at all. Just hold on and I'll be right with you the whole time. I'd never let anything happen to you, Dara."

She pet the ruping trying to work herself up to the idea of actually getting on his back. She felt a calm then. She knew what he said was true. "Sanya." She said. "My name is Sanya."


	23. Caff and Chat

So a lot of her friends sailed away for now but another one may have dropped out of the sky. Is it possible to make friends with the 'enemy'? Maybe at least acting friendly is the safest option.

* * *

He hopped up out of his seat the moment she stepped through the door of the tapcaf. Soniee had gone to have caff with Kallus mostly to spite Saw, but she was also curious. The agent seemed amazed but pleased that she had actually showed up.

"I'm really just here for the free caff," she said when he came to greet her and lead her to the table.

He laughed and she wondered how much caffeine he had already consumed while waiting for her to arrive. "You're quite the mercenary."

She almost spouted out an old Mando proverb about bounty hunting or something but something told her, maybe it was a little nudge from the Force, that she should not tell this guy she was from Mandalore.

He didn't seem to notice or maybe he just thought he had embarrassed her. "So what would you like then? Anything on the menu. My treat. That is what I promised?"

She thought a moment about ordering the most expensive thing listed on the display behind the counter. She gave him a mischievous grin and then resisted the temptation. "Just a mocha."

"Are you sure? You said you knew this place. If there's something you would rather have. I don't mind. I want to make it up to you, what my trooper did."

"That wasn't your fault." Soniee quickly excused him not wanting to remember what she had done to warrant the trooper's response. She wondered again if the agent had seen her and maybe he was just searching now for a way to get her to admit to it.

"Maybe not, directly, but he was under my command and I should never have allowed it to happen."

"Well then I forgive you." The waitress placed a cup on the table in front of her and Soniee thanked her before she attempted to turn the conversation back to Kallus himself. "Pardon me for asking but it is your first command?"

"Am I that obvious?" he gave her a relieved smile both for her mercy and also, she thought, for the fact that she now seemed ready to stay for a while with the drink in her hands.

She took a sip of the beverage and then shook her head. "You just seem rather young for so high a position."

It had worked. His ego was bolstered. "Thank you." he said modestly. "I was already near graduation in a military academy. Thought I had missed my chance at becoming a great hero when the war ended. Then the Imperial recruiters came and chose me out of all the other cadets to enter officer's training."

"Congratulations. It is quite an accomplishment."

He nodded his thanks again with a bit of blush to his auburn bearded cheeks. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm really ready for it. That's partially why I wished to have a guide who knew her way around when I arrived on an unfamiliar planet."

"Oh well, actually, I've only been here a few months myself," she said before she thought twice about it. She was relieved he didn't ask her where she'd come from.

"So you weren't here during the war, the take over, and the rebellion?" Kallus asked.

"No. I escaped that adventure, thankfully."

His expression betrayed relief for a moment and then panned again to worry before he continued. "Please excuse… I really don't mean to pry."

"What is it?" she asked warily.

Kallus studied her. "That man you were with, he said his name was Saw?"

That was not a question Soniee had been expecting. She weighed her answer. "He's a friend, one of the first I met when I arrived."

He nodded. "How much do you know about him?"

"He helped me find a place to stay, introduced me to people to help me get settled. Why?" He might be a green officer but he was still trained by the Empire as an ISB agent. She was going to have to be careful. Then again she didn't sense that he was digging for information more like he was trying to warn her.

Kallus looked at her seriously, "Saw Gerrera _was_ here during the war. He was one of the leaders of the rebellion."

"I thought it was the rebellion that brought Onderon back to the Republic and eventually to the Empire? Anyway Saw doesn't really like to talk about that. He lost someone close to him."

"His sister, Steela. We know." He turned his cup slowly on the table as if wondering exactly how much he should tell her. "Dara, you've said you weren't here during the war and you don't know what it was like. I know that Saw Gerrera may appear to be kind but I feel it's my duty to warn you that we believe he may still be up to his rebellious ways."

She almost laughed but she didn't like the way he used the word 'we'. She tried to keep her expression neutral and her voice level. "You're here on Onderon to investigate him?"

"No, no nothing like that." He rushed to reassure her. He smiled and reached across the table to touch her hand, hesitantly. "It's just that, his name appeared on a list of possible... problems that we might encounter during our stay here. I wouldn't have even mentioned it if I didn't think that the… association might put you in danger. A girl all alone on a foreign planet? Forgive me feeling a bit protective."

Soniee forced a smile of her own. "I thank you for your concern but really… I'm sure there's no need. What would there be for him to rebel against now that we have the Empire?"

"We do, don't we?" He gave her hand one last pat before he pulled his own away. "And we'll be celebrating that in another couple of weeks." Maybe he was reassured that she was not a part of whatever intel he had on Saw Gerrera. Or maybe he just didn't want to worry the poor 'girl all alone on a foreign planet.'

She did her best to appear excited at the news.

"There will be a parade, of course, and an aerial display as part of the festivities."

She didn't want to think about the festivities on that day but she asked. "I thought I saw a new type of fighter escort your ship when you arrived. Will those be involved in the exhibition?"

"The Ties you mean? Yes!" His eyes lit up. "You know starships?"

She nodded though now she kicked herself for inviting more personal questions. "It's a bit of a hobby." Surely lots of beings kept track of makes and models. It didn't immediately mark her out as the girl who'd once flown a _Kom'rk_ into the Jedi temple hangar a day before it exploded. "I like to fly." She shrugged.

"That's right! You were wearing a flight suit on the day I met you." He remembered.

"I believe I might have been."

"I enjoy flying as well, the freedom in the air. Not that I get much call for that in my current position. Sometimes I wish I had stuck to the piloting track at the academy."

Soniee nodded and commented when necessary but her mind wandered to the flying she had done yesterday with Saw on the back of the ruping, 'Sky King'. _That_ was freedom in the air! That was what her mother had loved so much and the thing that had brought Melaana and Bremon together.

"So you'll be there?" he was asking her and she had to bring herself out of the daydream.

"I'm sorry, where?"

He laughed. "At the parade. I'll be marching at the head of my troops. I want to be sure you'll be out there cheering me on… us… cheering us on and the Empire of course."

"Oh!" She sought for an answer. "I'm sure there will be too many faces in the crowd for you to notice little ol' me."

"Knowing you're there though, celebrating our Empire, it would mean a lot to me."

…

An hour later she was on the back of the ruping once again with Saw seated comfortably behind her and the wind blowing her hair back behind her.

Saw spit hair and laughed, "Wish I knew that trick your dad did to your mom's hair that you read about."

"I'm sorry." She spoke loudly back over her shoulder to be heard over the whistle of the wind. "I was in such a hurry to be in the air I didn't think to tie it back."

"Speaking of ties. Did he say anything else about those fighters that are going to be in the air show?" He asked.

Talking was difficult while they flew and Soniee wished he would just let her enjoy the flight but she also understood, since his name had been specifically mentioned, why it was so important for him to get all the details from her meeting with the Imperial.

"No," she called back. "Just that the new models were going to be featured. They'll probably give some sort of exposition about the specifications at the show."

"What?" He laughed.

She waved off the question. And the said a little louder, "I wish we could find my mother's cave."

"Yeah, that would be something." She heard, or perhaps sensed, a hesitation in his voice and looked back at him.

He only smiled. "I still can't believe you went out with him."

She rolled her eyes and turned her gaze back forward. The arms around her tightened a bit.

He spoke close to her ear. "Aren't you worried that this dangerous terrorist will be a bad influence on you with his rebellious ways?"

"I am just a poor girl alone on a foreign planet in need of protection."

Saw laughed loud and long. "Little does he know." Then he whistled. "Kriff, maybe I should have you go on more dates with this guy. Who knows what kind of intel we could get?"

She looked over her shoulder again, incredulously. "I am not going double agent for you Sawyer Drokko Gerrera. You remember I dorm with Chi'ann Kree. I know it's not a healthy profession."

He hugged her a little tighter and whispered almost so low she couldn't hear him. "I definitely don't want anything to happen to you, Sanya."

She pretended she hadn't heard. "Besides what are they thinking that you have this secret organization meant to take them down? Do you and Zal have some sort of base set up in the tunnels beneath the dorms?"

He didn't answer right away and his grip on her seemed to tense.

"You don't, do you?" She looked back again and he gave her something like a shrug.

"You do! You're hiding some kind of army under the city, under the refugees that you say you want to help!" She pulled on the reins she was holding in an effort to land the beast but Saw put his hands over hers and gently leveled out their flight.

Their reduced speed meant he didn't have to speak quite so loud. "It's not like that. I just… you weren't here when the Seppies came with their droids. The occupation, the theft of our resources, the deaths of people we loved. And I can see that coming again with this… Empire." He spat the word. "I'm not fool enough to believe that I can take down the whole kriffing galactic government. But if they come for Onderon again I will fight for our freedom."

She nodded. She understood. Her own planet had been blown to bits and her Momma with it. She leaned back against him and he held her and they just quietly flew in the atmosphere that was still free to them.


	24. Sanda's Angel Mel's Angel

Sorry it's been so long! To make up for it you get an extra little gift here and then a real contemporary Saw and Soniee chapter later today.

I actually have two flashbacks to offer you now. The first would not have appeared in Melaana's journal because she wouldn't have remembered it. Her brother might have and he surely would have told his niece about it if they had had the chance to meet. But then if Sanjay had had the chance to meet his niece, the heir of House Kira and House Rash and the legacy of Freedon Nadd, I'm sure the whole story would have turned out much differently.

The second is an event Melaana did put in her journal but not until much later than the accounts that Soniee has reached in her translation. She'll get there soon. And there's someone else who witnessed the event who also might be able to shed some light on that time.

* * *

 **Sanda's Angel**

Sanda gazed down at the baby girl in her arms. So tiny, so perfect, and worth every bit of the last nine months Sanda had had to endure with only a fraction of her regular pain medication. It had been easier when she had carried Sanjay. The disease hadn't progressed so far and she had been walking on air knowing that she was finally going to do what her parents had never thought possible. She had a son to carry on her husband's name.

The ordeal of her first pregnancy however had left her weak and more susceptible to the ravages of her disease. She had been advised against conceiving another child but Sanda was never one to balk from a challenge if it was something she really wanted. She had desperately wanted a baby girl.

And now here she was all squalling health and beautiful eyes and head full of dark curls. Melaana.

Sanda was exhausted after the grueling labor and delivery. She was ready for the medication she had been previously denied during her pregnancy and blessed sleep but first she had to know the results of the tests that the med droid had performed on the infant. She would enjoy just studying the fruits of her sacrifice while she waited.

"The child will not suffer from the Fartrad's condition, my lady," the droid said in a professional tone. "Though she is a carrier of the gene."

Sanda nodded. She had figured as much. Ommin had been tested before she would agree to marry him but it was a relief to be sure. Still lady Rash would not risk her grandchildren someday having to suffer her own agony. She would have to make sure that when the time came both of her children found mates who were free of the danger of passing on the disease.

It was absolute ages before she would have to worry about that however and now that she could return to her own health regimen and the experimental treatments that were being discovered every day, Sanda had a good chance of living to see and enjoy the next generation of the Rash family.

She was caught up in thought of her daughter's future, the balls and the dresses and the young men flocking around her when the droid spoke again. "Oh! I must offer my congratulations, my lady."

"Your congratulations?" Sanda laughed. "For what?"

"I have just completed a test of the level of midiclorians in the child's blood and her count is just over the acceptable limit for consideration to be instructed at the Jedi temple by their formidable order."

"What?" Sanda's own blood turned cold. She didn't know much about the Jedi order but she was sure she had heard stories of their practices of non-attachment and loyalty only to their teachings. "She's only a baby surely they wouldn't be interested in her for years to come." Sanda would stall them indefinitely if she had to.

"On the contrary, my lady," the droid informed her. "The order would begin her training as soon as possible. I can contact the temple on Coruscant and see when they would like to send a representative to perform further tests…"

"No." Sanda barked, holding her baby possessively. "You do the test again. You did say that the level was just barely above the acceptable limit. Perhaps you got it wrong the first time."

"Very well, my lady." The droid rolled over to take another sample from Melaana's arm. The infant screamed in pain and defiance.

 _It's just a little hurt_ , Sanda shushed her daughter. _I won't let them take you away from me_.

Quickly the droid performed the same test over again. This time as it gave the results, it's tone was more subdued. "You were right, of course, my lady. Though the levels are higher than average, this second test proves that they are in fact below the acceptable limit."

Sanda sighed with relief and kissed Melaana's brow. "See I told you," she said to no one in particular. "Now before I get too tired we must show her to her father."

"Yes, my lady." The droid rolled towards the door to go and fetch Lord Rash but nearly ran over someone else in the doorway. "Excuse me, young master."

Sanda noticed him then as well. She wondered how long her son had been standing there listening. She didn't want to burden the little boy quite yet with the knowledge of her illness. But she guessed he was just curious about the baby. "Come Sanjay. Would you like to meet your sister?"

He nodded and shuffled slowly towards the bed.

"Her name is Melaana Ophelia, but you may call her Mel." Sanda drew back the blanket so her son could get a better look at her and whether it was a chill breeze in the air at just that moment or fear that she might be subjected to another test or just her own tiny personality making itself apparent, the baby squawked again.

"What do you think of her?"

Sanjay screwed up his face into a frown. "She's loud."

"She's just letting us know that she needs or wants something because she doesn't know how to speak yet." The young mother explained. "We'll have to teach her a lot of things."

"So you're not going to send her away to be teached by Jedis?" He asked.

"No, my love, Melaana is always going to stay right here with her family." Sanda noticed her husband standing in the doorway, smiling. She had never loved him more than she did in that moment.

* * *

 **Mel's Angel**

"Saw, come here! The baby's moving! Want to feel her kick?" Of course Melaana had no idea whether the baby she was carrying was a boy or a girl but Bremon seemed to have his heart set on a daughter so she was willing it to be so.

Melaana had convinced Edda to let her babysit because she needed the practice. Baby Steela was sleeping in the cot beside her chair and until just now Saw was playing quietly on the floor with a toy cart and fambaa that his father had made for him. If little ones were this easy to take care of she was going to convince Bremon that they needed a dozen of them.

The four-year-old edged toward her slowly and stretched out his hand.

"Come on, it's alright." She took his hand and placed it on her stomach and the baby promptly stopped all movement. Melaana frowned and the boy rolled his eyes at her in disbelief. "Well, she was moving just now." She smiled getting an idea. "Maybe if you sing to her, like you sing to your sister."

Saw thought a moment and then bent close to Melaana's belly and began to sing. It was a nursery rhyme in Onderonian and the tune was simple and after only a couple of lines Melaana felt the baby move within her. Saw's eyes lit up when he too felt the movement under his hand. "Just like Steela!" He said, excitedly. "I felt her in Momma's belly before she was born."

"That's right!" Melaana grinned. "And in just a few months we'll get to meet this little baby too. Would you like that?"

Saw nodded and then bent and whispered, "I can't wait to meet you. I bet you'll be pretty like your Momma." Then he blushed and sneaked a glance up at Melaana.

She pretended like she hadn't heard the whisper but later she wrote all about it in her journal. It was the sweetest thing she had ever heard.

* * *

for more information on Sanda's genetic condition see Polaris.


	25. Empire Day

two chapters in one day woo! So after a glimpse at her mother and grandmother's pregnancies, I return you to Soniee remembering her own. It's been a year since the siege of Mandalore, Order 66, the birth of the Empire and the loss of Oron Kryze.

* * *

It was like being back at the academy before or after some big event, that air of excitement. Well, everyone was usually excited except for Soniee. Either her fellow cadets were anticipating a few days or weeks off from lessons or else they were just getting back and had to tell the others everything that had gone on when they were at home.

Soniee remembered the noise and the confusion and the headaches she would get and not understanding why no one else seemed to feel the press of all those minds in such close quarters. She understood it now, but it didn't make it any easier to shut out.

Above the city of Iziz prepared for celebration and whether beings were excited at the prospect or angry, the heightened emotion weighed on Soniee even down here in the cool relative quiet of the tunnels. It seemed to push at her even as the… whatever it was pulled her down. She hadn't given into that yet. And now that Saw had admitted that he was hiding the goods and material for a militia a level below the dorms she wasn't sure she wanted to have to go past all that to get at whatever lay beneath.

She felt caught between the Empire and all its allies, people shouting in the streets, flags waving and aircraft buzzing the stands, a few levels up, and the bombs, blasters, maybe even deactivators, which were now illegal, meant to fight back against them. She wondered if Saw understood that they weren't fighting against droids now. As much as she might not like the Empire, fighting back was going to mean hurting living breathing beings who only thought they were doing what was right. Beings like Alexsandr Kallus.

Sandr said he'd be watching out for her today. Not that he would be able to pick her face out in the crowd. But, she wondered, what if he noticed that she was missing from the celebration? Would he think she was disloyal to the Empire? Would he think that there was some reason she needed to be investigated by his security burrow? She couldn't afford to have anyone to go poking around in her past. He was already worried about her association with Saw.

And Saw… She begged him to be careful. Yes, she saw a need for resistance to a corrupt system but lashing out blindly wasn't going to do anyone any good. He'd only laugh and tell her he was always careful.

He promised her he wouldn't cause any mayhem today. Just to be sure she'd asked if they could go out flying again. She wanted to be as far away from the city as they could manage and if she could get him away from it too she'd feel that much safer.

He said he had a few things to do before they could head out. She could only hope that didn't meant he was assigning some of his deputies to wreak havoc in his name while he was gone.

So right now she had only to wait and endure the press of minds. She sat on her bed in the dorm with her holo notebook and her helmet beside her. She wanted to hide within it but she didn't want to be rude while the other girls were still milling around.

Chi'ann typed a message to her that appeared on her screen. "Are you sure you won't go up with us? It's going to be quite a party." Soniee knew the mute girl missed the life of performing before an audience, the rush of being on stage, and the applause and mingling with adoring fans, not to mention the thrill and danger of the espionage she'd been involved in. For her the day would hold a little of that old magic.

"No. Thank you." Soniee answered her aloud. "I think I had enough of parties after the ball."

"She's going out flying with Saw again," Werda said in a sing song voice. She had been more excited than any of the others to have had her theory proven correct at least in part. The princess whisked away by another Kira into the wilds to escape her evil family. She hadn't been told that Soniee was in fact a Kira herself or about the whole Force sensitivity thing.

So far the fact that the whole sordid affair had occurred during the dance of the three lovers was working out in her favor. Most Onderonian natives and those who were present for King Rash's none too short reign, viewed her as a tragic figure. She wished, however, that they didn't have any opinion of her at all. Yet another reason that she didn't want to attend the day's festivities. It was only a matter of time before Agent Kallus heard the rumors that generic girl on the street he had met and decided to befriend and maybe more, was in fact the niece of the one time ruler of the planet.

"Leeve Dara alone," Myat rolled her eyes. She was actually going above ground as well.

"We'll bring you back a fried meiloorun," Werda waved as she and Chi'ann made their way out the door.

Soniee thought Myat would follow the other girls right out and she started to put her helmet on before the younger girl walked over to her.

"Dara." She began. Sometimes she seemed so young but with her years as a slave she had also obtained a maturity that was far beyond her years. "Eet may not bee my place to advise you but as your friend. You and Saw have grown very close. Eef you and 'ee should… What I mean to zay ees, do you 'ave a plan for zome method of protection? Eef you need me to acquire zometing…"

"Oh!" No, Soniee had not expected to get his talk from the girl but with all she had been through she no doubt knew the value of taking control of one's own reproductive system. "I was actually given a hypo a… not quite a year ago. It's meant to last for about four more years."

"Eet was given by a medical professional? Because zee over zee counter…"

"Yes, it… it was given to me by a doctor. He said it would be better if I didn't … For my health."

Myat looked at her curiously. "I am zorry to pry. Only I 'ave known too many girls who did not zink ahead of time."

"Thank you for your concern, Myat." Soniee held her tears in check.

The Twi'lek nodded and as she left the room looked back once more. "Lock zee door when you leave, will you?"

"Yes, I'll remember." There was a catch in Soniee's voice and she cleared her throat, trying to smile till Myat was beyond the doorway.

Then she allowed the tears to come. _Happy Life day, Oron, my sweet baby. If you're in the Force somewhere or the Manda beyond that Ordo'buir used to talk about. Maybe you're with your Ba'buir now. I'd like to think that someone was holding you since I never could_.

She felt Saw's larger than life personality coming closer before she heard him whistling, seemingly without a care in the world. She was glad of her early warning system so that she could dry her cheeks and put herself in order before he knocked on the door frame and peered around the corner.

"Everybody decent?" he asked with a grin.

"No, we all make a habit of lounging around in our scantiest under things." She laid back on the bed propping herself up with one elbow.

"Man, I really gotta figure out the code for this door." He knocked the side of his fist against the door frame. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." She sat up. "Just let me put this stuff away." She shut down her holo notebook and slid it under the bed along with her helmet and then grabbed her mother's journal.

"Good. I've got something special today."

"Are you going to tell me or is it a surprise?" She stood and walked over to him.

He shrugged. "Guess I can tell you. You know how your mom is always writing about that clearing where she met with your dad. It had to be big enough for her to land the cloud hopper and for your dad to land the ruping, right?"

"Ye-ah?" She closed the door and activated the lock while she waited for him to continue.

"I think I found it!" He nodded proudly. "Of course it might have grown over since they met there and then it would have all burnt down but from the way she describes the lay of the land, I'm pretty sure I know the spot." He led her toward a tunnel entrance that would put them well away from the parade and the crowds. "I thought we could have a picnic." He had left a backpack by the secret hatchway out to street level which he now retrieved. "And you can read me the next section. It's finally getting good!"

Soniee laughed. "Yeah because that whole episode with the holo star wasn't interesting at all."

Saw wrinkled his nose in disgust and gestured a negative with his hand. "Nah. Old news."

Just outside the city gate, 'Sky King' was waiting for them. Soniee greeted the animal and he nuzzled against her.

Saw stood back and watched her interact with the beast.

"What?" she asked when she caught him staring.

"Ah it's just… you look so natural with him. Just like your mom must have been with Frayl and Princess."

"I'm glad I got that from her at least." She gave the ruping one more pat on the snout, walked around to mount him, and waited for Saw to give her a leg up.

"I think you got a lot from her. You sure look a lot like that portrait we saw at the palace."

"Almost like a mirror." She agreed.

Saw climbed onto the ruping behind her, "Hey, at least you didn't get her singing voice."

"Yeah." She smiled, taking up the reins. "Guess I lucked out there." But then as they took to the air she frowned. Had they read something about her mother singing? She knew that her mother played the Onderonian flute. She had played a patriotic tune for the Bonteris when they came to discuss the betrothal. But Soniee couldn't remember her mother's singing voice being mentioned before.

Soniee remembered when she had sung for the Blackwells that day, Saw had seemed surprised at her singing. She remembered him singing that day as well. "You know your voice isn't half bad either. Did you get that from your parents?"

"I guess I did." She felt him shrug but didn't look back.

He hadn't told her the exact location where they were going yet so for the moment they just enjoyed being in the air.

"We did a lot of singing when I was a kid. I remember…" then he spat. "What? Did you not have time to tie back your hair again?"

She laughed and then, "Oh Kriff! Speaking of ties." She pulled on the reins and banked out of the path of one of the black fighters. "We had better get where we're headed or they're going to start using us as target practice for the exhibition."

He reached around her to take the reins from her hands and turned them in the proper direction. "The valley just over there." He pointed. "See?"

"Wish I could have seen what it looked like then."

"So do I."


	26. Tabloid

Lies! Deceptions! Maybe? But they might just guard Soniee's true identity for a little longer.

* * *

"Got something else for you." Saw tossed her a package and she caught it deftly while he continued to extract their picnic things from the pack.

"You're going to spoil me." She grinned before looking down to see what it was. She couldn't believe she was actually here in the clearing where her parents had met. Well that's what Saw thought anyway from the description of the land.

"Heh," he laughed. "That's the plan."

She settled herself on the ground and finally looked at holozine in her hand. "Oh Manda!"

Again he laughed. "You made the cover."

"It's not the first time." She bragged as if she cared about such things.

"Don't worry I won't let dating a holostar go to my head. But that other girl wasn't you evidently. You've got to read the article."

Soniee checked the table of contents and flipped to the proper page. There was a still of she and Lux, masked at the ball and underneath that a still of their parents at their betrothal party. She gently touched the image of her mother before she began to read the words.

"The Real Princess of Onderon," the headline began. And then the story went on to tell of the incident at the royal ball in Iziz some weeks past, in which Senator Lux Bonteri was finally reunited with his half-sister.

There was a short history of what the author knew about Lux. His mother was Mina Bonteri, former senator of the Republic who tragically lost her way in the manner of joining the Separatist confederacy. It was her death at the hands of Count Dooku himself, or so the stories said, that returned her only son's loyalty to the Republic. Senator Bonteri the younger had proved himself in the battles that freed Onderon from Separatist rule and he had remained loyal as the flawed Republic was swept away in the formation of the Galactic Empire.

However, little was known about Lux's father, Lieutenant General Dane Bonteri. With the appearance of the mystery girl who attended the planetary gala event at Lux's side, the esteemed publication in Soniee's hand promised that they could now answer some of those questions.

It was once assumed that the young, female, senatorial representative from Mandalore, a human girl by the name of Soniee Ordo may have in fact been the sister of Lux Bonteri. However wrong those assumptions may have been there was an air of truth to the story behind them. Representative Ordo was of course killed in the tragic mining accident on the planet Concord Dawn in the Mandalore system. Followers of the Lux Bonteri story would of course remember how the young senator mourned her death and along with her, it was presumed, the child she carried, that Lux himself had fathered when he visited the Mandalorian capital city of Sundari to attend Miss Ordo's graduation ceremony.

So who then is this new female friend who glittered so brightly on Bonteri's arm at the event held on his home planet to honor him? The head writer of the holozine sat down with Lux upon his return to Coruscant. (or bumped into him on a transport and wouldn't leave him alone until he spilled the whole story more likely.)

"Yes," Lux was quoted. "When I first saw Dara in a tapcaf in Iziz she reminded me of Soniee as well. It was difficult really to see another who looked so remarkably like Miss Ordo." He chokes up and the reporter waited for him to recover before they went on. "She sought me out, I feared, at first, for monetary gain or a moment of fame, but Dara wasn't like that. She was simply a young woman who had lost her family and wanted to connect with the one family member she had learned was still living."

"She is a family member, then?" The reporter asked him.

"She is. When he was a young militia officer, my father was given the duty of guarding the Senator Mina Skelari and fell in love with her. His family had other ideas. He was betrothed to an heiress named Melaana Rash."

All of this would be in the public record so it wasn't exactly a lie. Still Soniee didn't really like the light in which it painted Dane or Melaana. Especially since neither of them were now alive to argue the point. Maybe that's the only reason the ruse worked.

"My mother was already pregnant with me when the betrothal took place but she hadn't told my father. It was her plan to return to Coruscant and raise me on her own and leave my father to his own destiny. It was poor Melaana who learned of my existence and insisted that her betrothed continue his duty to the mother of his child. Little did she know that she was also carrying a child at the time."

"Your father was quite the rogue. His betrothed and his mistress both pregnant. Didn't this Melaana change her mind and wish that Dane come back to Onderon and do his duty by her child?"

"I've no idea." Lux shrugged thoughtfully. "When they discovered her disgrace, her family sent her first to wait out her pregnancy in a secret house in the jungles that once surrounded the city of Iziz but then all that's known is that she flew away while still pregnant with her child."

"Just flew away? All alone? Where did she go?"

"No one knew until Dara came to me and told me her side of the story." Lux gave the reporter a winning smile.

"And of course you will share that story exclusively with our readers?"

"Of course. You see it really is much like the old bard's play only the other way around. Melaana Rash ran away with her unborn child to Alderaan."

"You don't say!"

"Oh but I do. Melaana, under an assumed name of course, married a young noble there who had some condition that meant he would never father children of his own. He took pity on her and her child and swore to raise the child and never divulge the secret. Dara only discovered the truth when her mother and the man she had never questioned to be her father, contracted a fever and died. She went back into the medical records and found that her so-called father could not have been and that the date of their wedding was only a few days before her birth. They had always kept these things hidden from her and now she had a great deal of work to do to uncover the truth."

Lux sure could spin a story. Maybe Chairman Papanoida should have offered him the chance to study at the Bardic Academy on Chandrila.

"There was some sort of medical droid, a midwife droid specifically, that Melaana had brought with her from Onderon, insurance against the chance that she should give birth to the child in space before she reached her destination. The droid's memory was wiped to prevent it from revealing Melaana's past, however, in the depths of the stored medical records was a copy of the DNA scans that were run on a Lieutenant Dane Boneteri during his betrothal negotiations. Dara followed the lead and located the pictures of her mother with this mysterious gentleman at their betrothal party."

"Kriff," Soniee mumbled aloud while she continued to read rapt in the fiction that Lux had fed the reporter. "Why didn't I think of that?" Of course Momma Ordo had probably been a little more thorough when she wiped the midwife droid's memory before she sold the thing in Keldabe.

"Dara was thrilled to learn her mother's real name and home planet and she hoped that perhaps this Dane Bonteri might still be living. Though she had loved her adopted father, she hoped she might be able to be reunited with her real blood family."

" _Aliit ori'shya tal'din_." Soniee muttered the old Mandalorian saying which meant Family is more than blood. She tried to imagine what it might have been like to grow up with a mother and father believing that they were really her true parents and then finding out that her father wasn't her father and going to search for the man who really was. Soniee didn't think much about her own father. He had sent she and her mother away. She wanted the journal to tell her why. She wanted to believe he had been as wonderful as her mother had thought in the beginning of their relationship.

"When she came to Onderon wishing to see me, I really didn't know what to expect." Lux shook his head in wonder. "I had never been told that my father was once betrothed to someone other than my mother but Dara's story rang true and she had the documents to prove it. I asked her to accompany me to the ball in the colors of her mother's house having no idea which house tha might be. And of course she wasn't here during the war so she didn't understand anything about the politics and the bad memories of the citizens who lived in Iziz during that time. Please don't be too harsh on her for that. That is if…" Here he seemed to choke up a bit again. "If you see her. When she ran from the ballroom… It was... the last I saw of her. I was finally reunited with the sister I didn't even know I had and then…. When she learned the truth that her uncle had been a traitor and a tyrant she just couldn't accept the truth."

Lux ended the interview after that saying that it was just too painful a subject for him to continue. He had plenty of experience grieving over dead or star crossed lovers. He would be able to give a convincing display that Dara Rash-Bonteri's re-disappearance was only another in the long line of women who had broken his heart.

Soniee closed the holozine and set it aside, just as Saw came and handed her a plate of reheated food. "Manda."

"It's really something, isn't it?" He sat beside her with his own plate. "I'll give Bonteri this: he sure can package a lie."

"He did it to protect me to throw off anyone who thought Dara and Soniee were the same person." She stabbed at her food with her fork absently.

"Yeah. That's a noble cause and all. But makes you wonder what else he'd be willing to lie about, doesn't it?" He took a bite of his own food.

Soniee rolled her eyes. She was never going to get Saw to agree with her on the subject of Lux Bonteri. The man was bound and determined to think the worse of his one time friend. She lifted a morsel of the food to her mouth for a bite and then made a face. "What is this?"

"Automatic self-reheating single serve rations." He shrugged and took another bite.

"And this is supposed to be edible?"

He looked critically at the morsel on his fork. "Yeah." He put it into his mouth and chewed.

"Now I know why you were always over at Shara's when they were in town. Only a lonely old bachelor could eat this stuff. It's disgusting."

He leaned toward her and speared a piece of the food from her plate onto his own fork and popped it into his mouth. Then while still chewing he told her, "Then it's a good thing I've got you to help me mend the errors of my ways."

She swatted him and went to dig in the pack for something more palatable.


	27. Uninvited

Continuing from where we left off with Saw and Soniee's little picnic. Who knows what could happen with these two left alone together? That is if they are truly alone...

* * *

Like anyone would be

I am flattered by your fascination with me

Like any hot-blooded woman

I have simply wanted an object to crave

Like any uncharted territory

I must seem greatly intriguing

You speak of my love like

You have experienced love like mine before

But this is not allowed

You're uninvited

An unfortunate slight

I don't think you unworthy

I need a moment to deliberate

* * *

"So you gonna read me any more?" Saw asked.

Soniee took her mother's journal out of the pack along with a shura fruit that she took a bite from while she searched for the page. "Elek. You remember where we were?"

Saw finished his meal and scooched up close behind her. He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Stop it!" She swatted his hand away.

"I can't help it. It's just hilarious the way your hair springs into ringlets like this."

She rolled her eyes. "It's your humid Onderonian air. My hair was straight as a board in the dry air in Sundari."

"Oh, so you wanna go back where your hair was more manageable." He backed off a bit holding up his hands in surrender.

She grinned mischievously. "Well that and I'm mad at you."

"You are? What have I done now?"

"I think you know perfectly well how to read these runes and you're just letting me slog along on the translation like I'm back at the Academy."

"You didn't read ahead without me, did you?" He frowned, disappointedly.

"Just a little." She teased. "And you'll like this bit." She settled back and opened the book to begin reading and he looked over her shoulder at the runes he had claimed he couldn't make heads nor tails out of. He twisted another lock of her hair around his finger and she swatted him away again.

"Where were we?" she asked.

"It was almost time for the Summer Fete." He remembered. "She packed her datapad with the calculations she was supposed to do for Sargent what's-er-face and she threw her flute in her bag as well"

"Oh that's right." Soniee twirled her own hair around her finger while she tried painstakingly to get the translation right. Then she had an idea.

She said one word completely wrong and before she could go on to the next line Saw corrected her, "That would be cart not speeder."

She turned around grinning and shoved him. "I knew you could read it!"

Saw laughed. "No, no I'm just picking it up as you go along."

"Lier! I could have finished the translation by now if you were helping me!"

"But then we couldn't have spent all this time together." The look in his eyes made her feel things she hadn't felt in a long time. Not since…

She turned back to the journal. "Shall we continue?"

"MmmHmm. You left off there." He took her hand and placed it back on the page. He held on just a moment longer than necessary and when he spoke again she could feel his warm breath on her neck. "Go on."

She cleared her throat. "Oh yes..."

She read about the kind, very pregnant woman who drove the wagon in which Melaana rode. "...Her name was Edda..."

"... Gerrera." Saw finished for her. "My mother."

"Our mothers new each other?" She asked not looking at him.

He chuckled. "Keep reading."

Soniee read about the little boy on the back of his father's dalgos looking back and sticking his tongue out at Melaana. She read about the family singing along with Bremon and her mother's flute playing. She stopped at the end of the entry about her father proposing to her mother and closed the journal in her lap. "So we've learned two things from this. First that you... knew my parents." She was trying to sound annoyed with him but her voice came out sounding more like she was trembling. "And secondly that you can read Onderonian perfectly well."

"That's not the two things I learned." He smirked and then with two fingers under her chin he turned her face to look at him. "I learned that I remember your mother better than I thought and you are every bit as beautiful as she was."

"Is that one thing or two?" she asked, her heart rate speeding up.

"That was one." His gaze shifted from her eyes to her lips and back again, hungrily. "The second is that she would have wanted the two of us to get to know each other better." He took the book from her hands and laid it aside.

Saw's kiss was rough and exciting and dangerous and it promised further action that would be just as rough and exciting. She could imagine him pressing her against the bulkhead of her ship or throwing her over his desk down in the tunnels or taking her right here in the open. Saw Gerrera was no gentleman, but he did respect her, and he knew that she could take care of herself.

She had taken care of herself, hadn't she? That hypo Doctor Gilamar had given her, he had promised it would keep her from conceiving a child for 5 years. It had seemed stupid at the time, back when she didn't want anyone to touch her, when Korkie wouldn't even look at her. But Korkie... He was still…

"Saw." She was glad she was still in control enough to push him back to arm's length and not toss him across the clearing with the Force. "I can't do this. I'm... I have... I - I had... a husband."

He blinked and then stared at her. "You're married?"

She stood and wrapped her arms around herself protectively. She couldn't think about Korkie. She couldn't risk accidentally reaching out to him in the Force. And how could she risk being with Saw anyway? She remembered the way she had hurt both Lux and Fox when each of them had gotten too close to her.

The Force was strong here. But it didn't seem to be pushing her in any certain direction. It was more like she was being observed to see what she would do, what path she would choose, if she was ready for... something.

And then she sensed it. There was someone out there in the vegetation. Someone was watching them, hidden.

"Wait." Saw was trying to make sense of what she had said. "You said 'had'. Did something happen to him? You're not still..."

" _Kuur_!" She hushed him, falling back into Mando'a in her agitation. "Someone's out there. Come out! I know you're there!"

She saw his green eyes blinking at her first from between the new growth of trees. Then he stood out from behind them. He looked wild. His dark hair was long and his graying beard masked the shape of his face but there was something familiar about him.

Saw broke the silence. "So you found us, Uncle Brem."

Soniee threw a look back at Saw and then turned back to stare at the man who had been watching them. "You're… Bremon Kira," she gasped in wonder.

"I am." His voice was gravely from lack of use but there was a lilt to it that made her believe that he could still sing if he wanted to, like she had just read about in her mother's journal.

Suddenly Saw was faced with two pairs of identical green eyes and father and daughter spoke almost in unison. "You've known this whole time and you didn't tell me?"

"Okay that was spooky." Saw gulped.

Soniee looked again at the man who was... her father. He took a step closer to her. "Sanya?" he asked. "Is that your name? It's what she wanted to call..."

"Soniee." She told him. "My Momma must have heard her wrong."

His eyes were wide, drinking in the sight of her. "You look so much like her."

She thought for a moment he was going to reach out to embrace her. But instead he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around and as quickly and easily as her mother had described he twisted her hair up into a neat knot. When he slowly turned her back to face him again there were tears in his eyes.

Then his brows knit together. "You knew I was there, hiding. You sensed it."

"I - I did." She took a step back away from him. "It's what you were afraid of, isn't it, that I would... It's why you sent us away. Now that you've found me, I'm a disappointment to you."

"No!" He reached out to her and pulled her into an awkward embrace. "You must never think that. You must never think that I didn't want you or that I wanted you to be something other than what... you are. I was only ever worried about your safety, about what life would be like for you with... But..." Bremon Kira let out a worried breath and then frowned again. "Saw wasn't bothering you, was he? He was raised better than to come onto a girl who doesn't want his attention." He looked at Saw and gave him what could only be described as an animal snarl.

Saw raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I never... She seemed pretty willing I was just going with it." He winked at her.

Her father looked her over frantically as if checking for some wound. "The - the Empire they've killed them all! They'll be searching for you!"

"I never studied at the Temple." she corrected. "I'm not officially a Jedi. There are... were a few people who were aware of... what I can do but... so far I've been alright. They haven't come looking for me. Most of them think... I died. He… told them I died."

"He?" both Saw and Bremon asked her at once. They looked at each other, annoyed, and then back at her expectantly.

"My…" She couldn't look either of them in the face. "... husband. It… it was a year ago. The siege and the clones turned against us and then the Empire." She shook her head as the memories, and the things she couldn't remember but was told afterword, crashed over her. "I lost the baby. I couldn't save him. I almost died myself and then… I don't know… maybe he thought it would have been better if I had. I… thought it would have been better."

Saw was trying to make sense of things and he didn't like what he was hearing. "Your husband blamed you for… losing your child. He said you had died and…" Here he shot a glare at Bremon. "And he sent you away?"

Soniee glanced up at her father. She wasn't quite sure if she cared if it hurt his feelings. "A bit like history repeating itself but in this case it was the mother who survived and the baby…" She pressed her eyes shut and tears slipped down her cheeks. She sensed the unfamiliar man's desire to comfort her, his confusion and anger and guilt.

But it was Saw who pulled her into a hug. "And that's why you don't know if you're married or not?" he inquired.

"It's not the same back home as it is here. Divorce doesn't take a long drawn out process if... if he wanted to name me _dar riduur_ then he'd just say the words."

"And you have no idea if he's said them."

She shook her head. "He's got plenty of reason. I did let our son die."

"That wasn't your fault." Saw growled.

"Oh wasn't it? What use is it having powers if I couldn't even..."

"So he can just say a few words and dismiss you, just like that? Sounds like a real _osik_ way to go about things."

"Saw Gerrera, you know nothing about being _Mando'ad_!"

Her father spoke up then. She had almost forgotten that he was still standing there. "Wouldn't he try to contact you if he'd... said the words? Does he know where you are?"

"Says the man who has never carried a commlink," Saw muttered.

Soniee glared at him and then spoke more quietly to her father, "He knew that I've wanted to come here for a long time, to look up my mother." She'd honestly never given much thought to her father who he was or that he might be alive. She'd grown up without a father. She was still trying to process the fact that she had one, and he was right here, staring her in the face. "But it would have been awkward for him to... He didn't know the name I was traveling under and most people think I'm... Well, even Lux thought that I had died on Concord Dawn."

"But you are alive." Saw turned her back to face him. To make sure that she was listening to what he said. "You are a survivor and you have a chance to start over and make a new life here."

She nodded.

"Come on." Saw wiped a stray tear from her cheek and then stooped to gather their picnic things. "We can go back to my place."

"You're not planning on taking her down there into those tunnels?" Bremon asked incredulously.

Saw scoffed. "It's where I live and it's certainly more comfortable and private than where she has been staying."

"I…" Bremon grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back. "I forbid you to take my daughter down… there."

Soniee wrenched her arm back. "You can't forbid me to go. You might be my father but I barely know you. I'll go where I please and I'm going with Saw."

The look on the man's face almost broke her resolve but Saw put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on. The entrance isn't far."


	28. We Could Be Heroes

You will be mean, and I'll drink all the time.

We should be lovers.

We can't do that.

We should be lovers, and that's a fact.

Though nothing would keep us together.

We could be heroes forever and ever.

* * *

Soniee looked back at her father once and then continued on silently with Saw. He led her down a path to the stone edifice that marked the entrance to the subterranean caverns. She knew the place from her mother's description. It was the place Melaana had gone to meet Bremon's Uncle. Still she didn't comment until they were a good way down the stairs.

"I don't know what got into me back there. Maybe having a parent bossing me around again or the fact that I've been hanging around with the leader of Onderon's Partisans."

"You are starting to sound a little rebellious." Saw smirked.

"You're a bad influence on me." And then she was quiet again surveying her surroundings.

They entered through the office that had once belonged to her Great Uncle Nadd and continued on into what appeared to be a very comfortable living quarters. Obviously they belonged to a bachelor and Saw left her side a moment to hurry about picking up a few discarded dishes and clothing items. "I would have done a better job of cleaning up if I'd known you were coming."

"It's alright. It's a nice place. Not at all what I was expecting. This connects with the other caves where the refugees are housed and where you're hiding your army?" she asked with a smirk. It connected to other things too, she knew, something deeper. She could feel it, calling to her.

"Yeah. Right through that door." He frowned and went to it and turned an old manual nob. "Better lock it so we don't have Zal bursting in on us now that I think about it."

"Zal's not so bad." She smiled nervously. She liked the big Lasat.

"Still..." Saw shrugged, looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked. "Can I get you anything, a drink or..."

"No, I'm fine." She crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the couch.

He shuffled over and sat beside her but didn't didn't make any further move. "We could watch a holo or something." He suggested.

"No, I think I'd kind of just like it quiet." Almost without meaning to she projected a sense of calm.

The big man's shoulders relaxed. He settled back against the cushions.

Soniee curled up next to him and he put his arm around her. "Saw," she needed some distraction, an escape from reality. "Tell me a story."

"Tell you a story?"

"Yeah," she warmed to the idea. "Tell me what it would have been like if my mother never left Onderon, if I was born here and we grew up together."

"Hmmm..." he thought for a moment stroking her hair, letting it loose from the knot Bremon had twisted it into and letting it fall long over her shoulders. "Well, to start with when you were born I was almost 5 so after the initial, 'Oh! Isn't it great! Uncle Brem and Aunt Mel had a baby!' I really thought you were pretty boring."

"Oh thanks." she swatted him.

"Only telling the truth." He smiled grabbed the hand that swatted him and kissed her palm. "You and Steela were friends of course. So you were always over at the house."

She decided it was nice, being alone with him like this, and led on the pretend memory. "Did we annoy you terribly?"

He made a noise of disgust. "All the time. I could never get a moment's peace."

"What about Lux? Were we all friends with him as well?" She asked, rolling onto her back with her head in his lap and looking up at him.

He grinned down at her. "If your Grandma Rash had anything to do with it, you were going to be thrown together with that sweet little Bonteri boy as much as possible. Once the shock wore off that your mother had gone off and married Bremon Kira, she was bound and determined that one of her progeny would have some connection to the Bonteri family."

"So Lux and I were betrothed from birth. You and I never had a chance." She sighed sadly.

Saw chuckled. "Don't count your rupings before they're hatched. You and I got together eventually."

"Oh good. How did that happen?"

"Well, you never really cared for Lux, not romantically anyway, but Steela did and she was your best friend. You decided to help her out. So, you introduced them. You started spending a lot of time around the house again, like you did when you were little but now... I guess I didn't mind so much." Saw seemed to be enjoying the fabrication as well.

She picked up the story from him. "I didn't let on but I thought you were very handsome, so much older and more mature than Lux and the other boys."

"Oh did you now?"

"Of course. I think I always did really, but seeing Lux with Steela and how well they got on, I began to think how nice it would be if someone looked at me that way." She smiled sweetly up at him.

"Well, uh..." He smiled back at her and gently ran a hand down her cheek to her shoulder and down her arm. "Someone was definitely looking."

Soniee shivered, tickled by his caress.

"When you'd come over to stay the night with Steela and the two of you would go off into her room to talk and giggle and then you'd come out again to watch a holo with the rest of the family dressed for bed. I knew you were too young but the way you started filling out those little nightgowns..."

"And I'd accidentally brush against you while I was reaching for the snacks." She smirked.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it was purely accidental. But still, you were just a kid."

"And then?" She asked. "When did you finally decide to pursue something with me?"

He looked as if he were remembering. "It was that awful argument your parents had."

"My parents, argue?"

"Oh yeah! Your Grandma Rash decided it would be great to send you off to finishing school. There was one in the inner rim, an all girls school that was sort of a sister school to the military academy out there. That was where the Bonteri's were sending Lux so the two of you would be able to see each other all the time." Saw was almost as good at storytelling as Lux had been for the gossipholos.

She wasn't about to make that comparison now, however. "Thanks Grandma. Let me guess, Daddy didn't want..."

"No," he interrupted her. "Uncle Brem was all for it. It was a good school and your great Uncle Nadd had been saying that he should be the one to oversee your education."

"So Daddy didn't want to do what Great Uncle Nadd said and Mother didn't want to do what Grandma suggested." She nodded.

"Right, and you hated that they were fighting over you. You didn't want to go, but you didn't want to disappoint your dad either. So to get your point across, you ran away."

"Only out to mom's old cave." She frowned. "You know where that is by the way, don't you?"

He grinned but ignored the question and didn't break from the story. "The only person you told where you were going was Steela but I overheard the conversation and took it upon myself to go and find you."

"I was afraid when you showed up that Dad had sent you or that Steela had ratted me out."

"And I told you that nobody sent me. That I was there because I didn't want you to go either but if you did I'd be here waiting for you..."

Soniee rose so that she was kneeling on the couch beside him. "And then you kissed me..."

"I couldn't help myself." He reached out for her and she bent toward him to relive that kiss that had never really happened.

"And then I went away to school..." She couldn't meet his gaze.

"I missed you every day."

"I wrote you all those letters." She was already practically sitting on his lap but he guided her leg over his so she was straddling him. In the back of her mind something was telling her to slow down or stop this altogether but she didn't. "The datapackets must have been huge. Your parents must have wondered what I was writing to Steela to take up all that space. But there were my letters to you and..."

"And Lux's letters to Steela." He finished for her smiling. His hands were resting on her hips. "I lived for those letters until you came home for the Summer Fete."

She was enjoying the game. It was like acting wasn't it? Playing pretend. "I invited Lux and convinced Mother and Daddy that you and Steela could be our chaperons."

"Yeah that worked out great. Lux and Steela were all over each other."

Soniee laughed. "They were terrible."

"But it left you and I to be alone. Do you remember?" He studied her intently.

It didn't feel like play acting. "How could I forget?"

His hands slowly traveled up to her waist. "It was nice to find someplace quiet after being apart for so long... Holding you... My Sanya..."

She closed her eyes and she could almost believe it was true. "When you touched me that first time, Saw..."

He pulled her closer and they were kissing again. Real, solid kisses that she knew weren't from her imagination or any pretend memory.

And then she pulled back, ashamed and confused. "Saw I... I don't think I can..."

"You don't have to be that person anymore." He told her firmly, or was he telling himself?

"I - I don't?"

"Soniee Ordo was blamed for something she had no control over. She was used by politicians and hunted by an Empire." He pushed a piece of her hair back behind her ear. "You were always meant to be Sanya Kira. We didn't get to have that history together but we could have a future. You've got your father back and a home and me." He urged. "What do you want to be, Sanya? Anything you want."

She thought about reinventing herself, about all the pain she had left behind on Mandalore. She had had good times there as well, friends and family, but so many of them were gone, and those who were left were really safer without her. Was he right that she could really be anything now? Just leave all that behind and make a new life here with her real father and a man who was offering her a new start. She looked into his eyes. "I want..."

He must have seen her answer before she said it out loud or maybe he was trying to convince her, or to convince himself. He pulled her close and kissed her hard, holding her there until her own arms went around him. Then his hands went to work on the rest of her and she moaned against his mouth.

She realized her cheeks were wet with tears just before he muttered, "I'm sorry." And she found she wasn't the only one who was crying.

He tried not to meet her eyes. "I thought our being together like this might help us both to forget," Saw whispered. "But it just seems to bring it all back."

She stood, giving him some space to recollect himself while she struggled to do the same. "We… we can't make love pretending to be people we aren't."

"True." He stood behind her and laid his hands on her shoulders. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was attempting to cover with humor. "But we are two consenting adults, neither of whom, I'm assuming, have seen any action in a long time."

"Saw." She turned to face him. "We're friends, good friends. I don't want to ruin that with a night of… instant gratification and all the awkwardness to follow."

He nodded with a frown of concentration but she could see the relief behind his eyes. "So we're too important to each other for a night of meaningless kriffing but not enough to start something that requires more commitment."

"Elek."

His smile turned more genuine. "Good. I'm glad we're in complete agreement." He opened his arms to welcome her into a hug and she went into them gladly.

"Still." She sighed. "No matter what happens tonight my father, Zal, the girls, they're never going to believe… "

"We'll just tell them the truth."

"Oh and what's that?" she asked ironically.

He answered with a laugh, "That we're sleeping together."

"Sawyer!" she pushed him away.

"What?" he grinned and then sobered. "I don't want to be alone tonight, and forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you do either."

Soniee shook her head. He was right. All she wanted right now was to be held in the arms of someone who understood.

"Then you'll stay with me?" It was almost a pleading whisper.

"Yes."

He nodded gratefully and then rolled his eyes. "And you won't tell anyone that the indomitable Saw Gerrera still cries over the loss of his baby sister?"

"If I can trust you to keep all my secrets, it's only fair."


	29. Chamber of Secrets

Finally getting to an point that I first brought up in the 4th chapter of Ashla Spectrum! Feel free to go back and read that to refresh your memory. I'll wait. *whistles*

So when I last posted I left Saw and Soniee alone together *wink wink*

We will pick up there. And I promise there won't be any Basilisks. I believe there are still a couple of bes'uliik war droids in the hold of Soniee's ship but that's not the same thing.

Turn down the light

Turn down the bed

Turn down these voices Inside my head

Lay down with me

Tell me no lies

Just hold me close

Don't patronize me

* * *

"'Fresher's down the hall. Should be a spare toothbrush above the sink."

"Thanks." On her way Soniee stopped in front of the door Saw had locked earlier. He said it led to the dormitories. She supposed she could leave if she felt like it but she'd sensed something in him, a reason for her to stay.

She found the 'fresher as he had instructed, and the spare toothbrush, and changed into the tunic he provided for her. It came down almost to her knees and she felt suitably covered in the soft fabric when she put it on. It smelled like him, clean yet masculine.

She passed the door again on the way back. There was something else behind it, some dark truth... She shook away the thought and continued on.

"Thought you might have gotten worried about what everyone was going to say and left." He tried to sound nonchalant but she could sense the relief in him that she had returned. She remembered what he had said about neither of them wanting to be alone. And that was really the reason she stayed. He needed company as much as she did.

Saw was already in bed in his pajamas and he pulled back the covers nodding the intention for her to join him.

She walked across the room toward him as carefree as she could manage but she was serious when she spoke. "Saw, if we ever really do become lovers it shouldn't be to... forget or... because of what anyone else thinks." She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him questioningly.

Before he could answer her, Saw's eyes were drawn to the crystal that was hanging on the cord around her neck. She usually managed to keep it hidden under her shirt but she supposed she didn't mind if Saw knew.

"It's a kyber," she told him as he reached for the pendant and held it gently in his hand. "I've been told the Jedi used them to make their lightsabers. This one… called to me back home on Concord Dawn, like it wanted me to find it."

He swallowed and she thought he glanced toward the bedroom door before he smiled again let the crystal fall back against her chest. "Come on," he changed the subject. "Let's get more comfortable." He drew back the covers.

She laid down beside him and he pulled the covers up over them both. Then she snuggled closer with her back to him.

"I completely agree, you know?" He spooned around her holding her tight but not as if he wanted anything from her. She felt a little like a child's plush toy. "If it comes to our being lovers it should be because we're both honestly in love with each other."

She nodded but she could feel that he did already love her in a way. He just didn't need to express it physically, not now anyway. Just holding each other was what they both needed, not being alone, like he had said. And there was something else she wanted. "Saw, will you sing me to sleep?"

"Really?"

She sensed that he didn't think that much of his own singing but he would do it for her. "Mmmhmm."

"Alright." He gave a shrug that she could feel rather than see. "But nobody hears about this either."

"My lips are sealed." She smiled.

He may not have thought much of his voice but the Onderonian folk song he crooned softly against her ear was lovelier than almost anything she had ever heard on the net. It was the same love song he had sung at Shara's, that could have been directed at a romantic partner or a sibling or a child. She understood more of the lyrics now after her months of studying the language.

It made her think of her own child and silent tears ran down her cheeks, but Saw didn't stop or tell her to calm down, or that it would all be alright. He reached back and grabbed a tissue from the bedside table and handed it to her. He kept singing and let her have her tears. She fell asleep, weeping in his arms, and felt better than she had in weeks.

…

 _Sanya…_

She woke, or maybe she was still dreaming. Someone had called her name.

 _Sanya Kira_ …

She rolled over, remembering where she was, and thinking it was Saw who had spoken. He was fast asleep but maybe he talked in his sleep. Then she heard it again…

 _Sanya Galia Kira_ …

That voice. It wasn't Saw and it wasn't coming from this room, but it was close.

She pushed back the covers and slipped silently out of the bed, careful not to wake Saw.

 _Sanya!_ The voice was excited now. Probably happy that she had decided to finally listen to it and follow its instructions. It was the voice that had been speaking to her all along, since she had first set foot on Onderon. It was the voice that felt like home.

She wasn't surprised that it seemed to lead her to the door Saw had locked. It was also no surprise that the locking mechanism fell open without her having to touch it and the door swung inward welcoming her to continue forward.

 _Sanya Galia Kira!_

She answered in a whisper, "Grandfather?" She wasn't sure why she said it. It was something about the way the voice felt, like her old _Ba'buir_ on Concord Dawn, or like the Chancellor on Coruscant, when he was deceiving her, trying to gain her favor. But there was no deception in this voice, danger, yes, and unspeakable power.

She could feel that the terrible violence that lay just under the surface was not directed at her. In fact when she uttered the title the voice seemed to laugh.

 _Give or take a few hundred generations. Come child, I've something to show you_.

Anticipation lent speed to her steps. The corridors were familiar and welcoming as she took the stairs down to the lower levels two and three at a time. She was finally going to see, to know, to understand.

Then she made the last turn and found herself in a room facing a wall with a doorway at its center. She slowed her pace and swallowed, holding her hand up toward the stone that served as a door.

"I've been here before. I know this place." She whispered and trembled with trepidation as the stone panel began to rise.

 _But never inside. Come_.

All her questions were about to be answered, the reason for all this! Soniee, Sanya Kira, crossed the threshold into the chamber and found it… empty.

There were some old round rocks in the corner but other than that, nothing.

"Hello?" her voice echoed around the ancient walls but there was no answer. The grandfatherly voice had gone silent and as she further surveyed her surroundings all she found was a dark stain in the middle of the floor. She didn't really want to go near it.

"You said you had something you wanted to show me?" Frustration began to creep into her mind and then fear. What if this was all a trap?

Soniee spun around expecting the door to slam down shut imprisoning her inside the chamber. But the door stayed open and no one jumped out to attack her. She took a step backwards and then another and when she reached the center of the room, everything went black.

…

"Am I dreaming?" Saw looked around the clearing. It was spring and the surrounding jungle had dressed itself in flowers.

Lux Bonteri was standing beside him, grinning. He gave Saw a friendly punch in the arm. "Nope, looks like the best man won."

Steela grabbed Lux's arm and spun him around to face her. "Hey! What am I, second prize?"

Saw left them laughing to their spat and turned in time to catch the eye of his bride across the clearing. She gave him a smile and then focused again on her father who was just bending to kiss her cheek. Uncle Brem choked up. "I'm so proud of you, Sanya."

She responded to him in Onderonian, "Thank you, Papa."

And then his own parents were congratulating her. Edda Gerrera hugged her tight and Geb's voice boomed out, "Welcome to the family, little one."

"We've waited a long time for this." Shara stood beside Saw smiling.

"Aunt Shara, where's Dalla?" He had just realized there were others that should be there as well. Surely Zal would want to attend their wedding, and Myat, and Dono…

But before she could answer there was another voice that made him look up. "There. That's just what was missing." Aunt Mel was placing a chain of red flowers around Sanya's neck. They sparkled like jewels and Saw was reminded of something that he couldn't quite place.

The two women looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. Melaana was just as young and beautiful as the last time he had seen her when he was a little boy.

Suddenly he knew that it had to be a dream. There was no way in the Galaxy that Melaana Rash and Sanya Kira could exist in the same time and space.

It was not a dream that he wanted to wake up from, though. Saw kept his eyes shut and held on to the image for as long as he could. There was one thing, he remembered, that was still right. Despite everything else in his life that had gone wrong, there was one person from that dream who was real and she had fallen asleep beside him.

Without opening his eyes, Saw reached out to draw her close to him again. She wasn't there.

"Sanya?" He was fully awake and out of bed in a moment. "Dara?" He called a little louder. It was okay, he tried to tell himself. She'd just gone to the 'fresher.

He paced back and forth waiting for her to return. He should just get back in bed and wait there. She would probably come round the corner any second and call him a _di'kut_ for worrying. He looked at the bed and then he felt a chill. No. Something was wrong.

Saw burst out into the hall and he could see from his bedroom doorway that the 'fresher was open and empty. But there was another open door, one he was sure he had closed and locked earlier in the evening.

Okay. Worst case scenario: she had wanted to go back to the dorm and had decided to find her own way through the tunnels to get there. If that's what she had done, however, she had done it in just the sleep tunic he'd lent her. Her clothes were still in a neat pile on top of her shoes on a chair in his room.

"Kriff." He breathed. That wasn't it. He knew what she'd done, just as sure as he knew who she was the first time he laid eyes on her at the spaceport.

Without grabbing shoes or a shirt for himself, Saw rushed out into the tunnels and down toward the chamber door Zal had discovered months ago. If he had had any doubts about how she had found the place, they were swept away by the sight of the portal now standing open.

Sanya Kira, child of the prophecy that had been said over her father, had found the chamber, opened it, and was now sitting cross legged in the center of the empty floor. She was still as stone as if she was meditating. Saw feared for a moment that she had actually stopped breathing.

Then as if she sensed his arrival, she gave a little gasp and her eyes opened. "Saw."

She shivered and he was at her side in a moment wishing that he had thought to grab a blanket or something to wrap her up in. In his dream he had been holding a cloak to place around her shoulders and take her under his protection as a part of their wedding ceremony.

For lack of anything else he wrapped her in his arms. "I thought I'd lost you."

She patted his arm. "You've known who I am and that this place was here. You must have known I'd find my way here eventually." She didn't say it to blame him but it still stung.

He nodded and backed off a little. "So did you find anything? Was it what you expected?" Saw looked around. Now that he knew that she was alright, he remembered his own curiosity about the place.

"I didn't really know what to expect." She stood and looked very small in her borrowed sleep tunic and bare feet in the empty chamber. She went to the corner where the three round rocks lay covered in a layer of dust.

Saw just watched her. "You know, kriffing or not your dad is really going to kill me for letting you come down here."

She smiled with her back still to him and lifted one of the rocks carefully brushing the dust away. Then she did the same with the second and third and finally turned back to face him cradling all three.

"I'm sorry you didn't find…" he began but then his eyes grew wide with wonder. "Are those Drexl eggs?"

"I need to take them home."

"Home?"

She nodded as if this was perfectly reasonable.

"You mean their home, where they come from, on Dxun?"

"Well, obviously." She wouldn't quite meet his eye.

Saw shook his head. "No no no no! There is no way I'm letting you go to Dxun!"

He started to move toward her but she simply held up her free hand. Saw slid backward two meters and was held gently but firmly against the rough stone wall with the Force.

"Do you really think you could stop me?"

He wanted to stop her. He had to stop her but, she had a point. He attempted to release himself from his position and she raised her eyebrows at him.

Frustrated but beaten and genuinely worried for her safety, he huffed, "At least promise me you won't go in that." He nodded toward her attire.

She looked down at the tunic and blushed. "I promise."


	30. Can't Make You Love Me

The mystery of the sealed chamber has been revealed but many more questions are left in its place. Soniee knows where she has to go now. She just can't get distracted on the way.

I'll close my eyes, then I won't see

The love you don't feel when you're holding me

Morning will come and I'll do what's right

Just give me till then to give up this fight

* * *

"Coming." She looked back over her shoulder at him as she left the chamber.

Saw realized that he was free of her spell, stepped away from the wall, and glanced back at the spot where she had held him.

"You might want to hurry. I'm not sure how long I can keep it open."

Soniee slid the door shut just as he cleared it. She could have kept it open but it was more fun to hear his sigh of relief that he'd made it just in time.

Her private mirth didn't last for long, though. He had to know that the eggs weren't her only reason for going to Dxun. They were a convenient excuse. The vision she had seen, all the awful things that had been done in her ancestor's name, he hadn't wanted any of it. He only wanted to rest. It almost made the things that had happened in her own life, the people who had been hurt, and the guilt she had felt by mere association, feel like dalgo osik.

She had to do something about it but she didn't know what. The answers were on Dxun. That she was sure of. She walked with purpose and determination and Saw followed her. Only then did she realize that she really had no idea where she was going. Following Grandfather's voice to find the chamber had been one thing. Now she was just wandering the tunnels blindly.

Saw had to know that, as well. Maybe he was hoping she'd get lost and it would delay her mission. He was walking a good two meters behind her, watching her and… enjoying what he saw.

"Do you know," he finally spoke after a long time, "how very sexy it is when you use your powers?"

She stopped walking and turned to face him. In that moment she was unable to deny her own arousal. She had forgotten that particular side effect of her connection with the Force. That whole thing about "there is no Passion…" had always been a struggle.

Saw cut the distance between them. He noticed a ledge on the wall behind her and carefully took one egg from her at a time and set them there, out of the way, so her hands would be free.

"You know I have powers, too." He smirked.

"Oh, do you?"

And with a nod he pressed her against the wall and began to kiss her fiercely.

"I thought we weren't going to do this," she gasped when his lips left hers and traveled to her throat. She didn't push him away. She didn't want to push him away.

He chuckled. "If you've changed your mind, I'm willing to rethink my position."

Her hands roamed over his chest and shoulders and back and he began to tug at her tunic. In the struggle her elbow bumped against the ledge where the eggs were resting. She laughed, "Right here in front of the children?"

Saw stage whispered, "We'll be quiet so we don't wake them." He went back at her throat with a louder growl.

She moaned another giggle. "And why do I get the feeling this is all an attempt to delay my departure?"

He gave her a guilty shrug. "Am I that obvious?" There was also worry in his eyes that she would never return.

She pulled his head down to kiss her again in unspoken agreement.

He lifted her off the floor and wrapped her legs around his waist.

And then they heard a gasp and a laugh and Werda Flint's voice. "I'm sure this is not at all what it looks like."

Saw's gaze when to the ceiling and Soniee's head dropped to his chest. "Nah, it's pretty much what it looks like," he grumbled. "Was anyway." He let Soniee gently to the ground and shielded her from view so she could modestly rearrange her tunic.

"I won't tell a soul," Werda swore but there was a glint in her eyes like she'd just been given the galaxy's best lifeday gift.

"We would appreciate that." Soniee elbowed Saw for his incredulous glare and he switched to a more gracious grimace.

Again the shadow girl laughed and as she skipped off she called back. "Get a room!"

Soniee turned with a sigh and began to gather the eggs back into her arms.

"I'm sorry." Saw rubbed the back of his neck. "I hadn't realized how close we were to habitation."

"It's alright." She didn't look him in the eye. "But you will have to show me the way back to your place."

He nodded with disappointment that the moment had been lost. "It's this way."

She followed him silently for some time until he stopped in his tracks. Maybe he thought they were far enough away from further interruption or maybe he just didn't want to reach their destination.

"I don't want you to go to Dxun." His jaw was tight and his fists clenched.

She took a deep breath. "This is something that I have to…"

He came to her in two long strides and touched her cheek. "I can't lose you."

"You won't." Her hand covered his.

He shook his head. "I lost my parents. I lost Steela. I couldn't bare it if…"

Soniee had lost people too. And she feared she'd keep on losing them if she didn't see this through. "I'll be back and when I am…"

"You don't understand!" He wanted to shake her, make her see reason. "You didn't grow up here. You haven't heard the stories about that place. Even before the Force users and the uprising, it's where the beasts came from that terrorized our people!"

"And then they tamed them." She had heard enough of the stories to know that.

Saw laughed bitterly. "I haven't forgotten the look on your face when we first tried to get you on a Dalgo."

"And now I'm perfectly comfortable with them and the rupings and I just opened a secret chamber that no one had entered in centuries and inherited a clutch of drexl eggs! I can take care of myself, Saw!" She could see now that he was attempting to block her way to his apartment door. She glared at him and then shoved him easily aside.

"You don't mind if I fly Sky King back to the city?" She stopped for a moment to ask, without looking back at him.

"No," he piped up. "I'll fly you back."

She nodded and then neither of them spoke while they dressed, climbed the stairs to the wilderness entrance, and mounted the ruping for the flight back to the east gate of Iziz. He held her close while they flew but they still remained silent. They were each lost in their own thoughts or perhaps neither of them wanted to continue the argument.

"Are you going to kiss me goodbye?" Soniee finally broke the silence when her feet were back on the ground.

Saw shook his head. "No goodbyes, I'll kiss you when you get back."

"Well at least," Soniee huffed. "While I'm gone, promise me you won't do anything rash."

He had the gaul to smirk. "Nah, I'll have to wait for that till you get back too."

She stared at him, confused, and then it dawned on her. "Do something Rash. Ha ha." She rolled her eyes. "But really, promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"Or what you'll send your drexls after me?"

"I don't need drexls." She threatened. "I have Shara and my father on speed dial."

He gulped with pretend terror. "I'd rather have drexls."

Soniee remembered the Onderonian word for goodbye. The literal translation was more like, "I'll be thinking of you, 'til I see you again."

He repeated the word with a nod of grudging acceptance.

She entered the gate and quick-stepped toward the space port. She would be thinking of him, even though she really did need to be focusing on the task at hand. She was going to Dxun where all this mystery of her past seemed to be pointing but Saw hadn't exactly promised that he would behave himself. He was angry that she was going, and likely upset that she had kept him from making a statement at the Empire Day festivities. The troopers would have been on higher guard during the parade and the airshow, however. Now they'd been lulled into a sense of calm and he might be able too…

"Miss Bonteri?" The voice had spoken more than once but she only now realized that it was addressing her.

"Sandr! I… What did you call me?" It was surprise enough to run into to him, being addressed as such completely put her off her guard.

"That is your name, is it not? Though maybe not legally, I thought you would prefer that to… Miss Rash." The uniformed ISB agent maintained a formal distance from her, but kept in step as she continued walking.

"Oh." It seemed he was keeping up with her press as well. "Yes, though I had thought we were beyond using last names."

"Yes, of course, Dara. You don't mind if I walk with you?" He asked politely.

"That's fine." She hunched the satchel she was holding up on her shoulder. It contained her mother's journal and the drexl eggs. The things she most wanted to keep close.

"So you came to Onderon to find your brother, the senator?"

Was this an interrogation or just a friendly inquiry? Well Lux had developed a convincing cover. She decided to play along. "My half brother."

He seemed to notice that they were headed towards the space port. "And now you're leaving?"

"Only for a few days."

Kallus nodded. He started to say something stopped and then threw caution to the wind. "You know that your half brother and Saw Gerrera were once friends?"

"They aren't anymore." That had to be the biggest understatement of the century.

"Miss Bonteri... Dara, the senator is loyal to the Empire. Even if he thinks that you disgraced his family, you mustn't let that push you into the arms of his enemy."

"Excuse me?" She stopped walking and turned to face him.

His countenance was suitably humbled. "You were seen leaving the city with Saw Gerrera the morning of Empire Day."

"Saw?" She started walking again. "Saw and I, we're not…"

Kallus attempted to laugh off his obvious jealousy. "Well, you missed a great party. We were all talking about where we were when we first heard the news about the formation of the Empire."

"I don't remember," she said sadly. "I mean I know where I was. I was unconscious. Someone had to tell me about it later on."

"You were…" His gaze wandered to where her hand had come to rest on her lower belly and then returned to her face, full of compassion.

She dropped her hand hurriedly. "I almost died. I think you might understand why it's not a day I really feel like celebrating."

"And why you would want to leave Alderaan and come here to search for your birth family."

"Alderaan? Why would I…" She realized a moment too late that it had been the place Lux told the reporters where she had supposedly grown up.

"Wasn't that where…"

"No," she backpedaled, "I told Lux that's where I was from. It sounded more interesting than some little outer rim planet that no one's ever heard of."

"A little planet like Concord Dawn?"

"Concord Dawn?" She managed to hold her expression to a mask of confusion. "Isn't that the planet in Mandalore space that was destroyed by a mining accident?"

"It was." Kallus probed. "It was also the homeworld of a Representative Soniee Ordo, with whom you share an uncanny resemblance."

"A very unfortunate resemblance." Why did he have to work this out now? She didn't have time for this. She had to get to Dxun. She had to…

"Look Miss Rash or Bonteri or Dara or whatever you want to be called." He reached out and took her hand in his. "I just wish you felt like you could be honest with me. I'm only trying to help you."

"Help me?" She resisted the urge to pull her hand away.

"You're leaving the planet for a few days, right?"

"Yes." They had reached the space port. She was so close.

"Good." He nodded with honest relief. "We're going to be intensifying our investigations into possible rebel groups and though I'm sure you're not in any way involved…"

"You're investigating Saw!"

He tightened his grip on her hand. "If he's as upstanding as you believe him to be, then there should be nothing to worry about."

She nodded. "Of course." What else could she say?

Kallus gave her hand one last squeeze and then let it go with another forced laugh. "I'm sure we'll be able to laugh about all this when you return."

"Yes. I'm sure." She in no way sure of such a thing.

…

As she boarded the ship and primed the engines, Soniee debated comming Saw to warn him about the investigation. If she commed him now, however, he'd only start another round of trying to convince her not to go to Dxun. Sawyer was a big boy. He could take care of himself. Just like Soniee could take care of herself.

She lifted off. It wasn't a long trip, one orbit around the planet and she could figure eight into moon's atmosphere. She didn't have exact coordinates but she did know where 'Grandfather' seemed to be calling her. She laid in a course and allowed her mind to wander.

As she got closer to the moon, however she began to feel the heaviness, the darkness. What had she been thinking about? Maybe Saw had been right about this place.

Saw! She'd been thinking about Saw. What was she going to do about Saw? She thought of their wild abandon down in the tunnels, of how gently he had held and sang to her, and of their first kiss in the clearing when her father had come…

"My father is alive…"

Suddenly Soniee was seeing through different eyes again.

 _She was Galia, now queen of Onderon after her mother's death, with her husband Oron Kira, Lord of all the Beast Riders, beside her. They had invited the Jedi back to the Palace of Iziz because of the uprising. and because…_

 _"My father is alive, Master Acra. He knows about the dark-side. He may be able to help us." Galia led the Jedi down through the catacombs under the palace to her father's laboratory._

 _The Twi'lek Jedi watched her curiously and then he smiled. "Congratulations." He said quietly so that only she could hear. Of course he had sensed it. He was the one who had been so proficient with the living Force, speaking to the beasts on his first visit to Onderon._

 _But Galia hadn't even told Oron that she suspected. Her fear was that her father had stayed alive for this purpose. He had long held to the old prophecies that one day a child would come of their line as powerful as their ancestor Freedon Nadd._

 _"Will he…" she asked the Jedi in a frightened whisper._

 _Tott Doneeta tilted his head and his leku twitched. "He will be a great beast rider like his father but he will not wield the Force."_

 _Galia breathed a sigh of relief. Arca and the others had got ahead of them and found her father, the ancient King Ommin, strapped to his device that was part droid technology and radiating dark side magik. Set into the machinery was a dagger with blood red stones in its hilt. She had seen those stones before. They were the Nadd stones, crystals supposedly imbued with power by Freedon Nadd himself._

 _"Galia… My daughter… Why do you never visit me?"_

 _Galia went to his side. "Father… There's someone I want you to meet, Arca of Arkania, a Jedi."_

 _The Jedi and the dying king spoke quietly together before there was a flash of blue light and the spirit form of Freedon Nadd took shape before them._

 _"But he's been dead for four hundred years!"_

 _And then a voice spoke from spirit._ (It was Grandfather's voice Soniee realized later.) _"Yes. My mummified flesh sleeps on stone. But this old man called my spirit back from chaos… I have given him my knowledge. Fear me not, Jedi. I am powerless in my present state."_

 _But King Ommin wasn't so powerless. He leapt from his supposed death bed and smothered the Jedi Master in dark-side energy. "Come to me, Daughter. Stay with your old father… I need you for my work!"_

"I need you for my work!" The words rang out in Soniee's mind. They reminded her of something she had read in her mother's journal.

But what had pulled her from the vision? Proximity alarms! She was heading toward the moon's surface too fast and directly in her path was another craft and outside it stood an old man.

Soniee yanked up on the stick hoping to come in for another happy landing. The best she could manage was not to slam into the ground at full force. She cushioned herself from the impact, just as she must have done as a newborn when her mother crashed into that cliffside on Concord Dawn. Her ship was going to need some repairs before she she could fly it back to the planet. But she had other work to do here on the moon first.

* * *

The vision/flashback comes from issue 1of2 of the comic _Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising_.


	31. Oh Dxun!

It might be a sign of insanity to start talking back to the voices in your head, but I think we can cut Soniee some slack in her present location and situation. She has come a long way from that little cadet at the Royal Academy. It would be really great if there were someone she could call on for help or just a shoulder to lean on.

* * *

Soniee shook her head in an effort to clear it. She hadn't been injured in the crash but her mind was still in a fog. It was this place. Her vision blurred with reality. Had there been another ship? And the old man she thought she had seen, he had looked a bit like Galia's father, King Ommin. Had he been real or just a projection?

 _I need you for my work…_

"Sorry, I've got my own work to do." Soniee told the voice echoing in her mind from the memory/vision whatever it was.

She pulled away her safety harnesses that probably wouldn't have done a lick of good if she hadn't had the power to shield herself from the impact, and got shakily to her feet. She just needed something to focus on. Focusing on Korkie used to help her get her bearings. She couldn't do that now. Though, she couldn't quite remember why. I didn't seem important, but it must have been.

The other thing that helped was… tech! Or mechanics! The ship was broken. She could fix it. Yes. That would help bring her head out of the clouds and her feet back on the planet or moon or whatever.

She slid open the hatch with her mind. It didn't matter if anyone saw her up here. She was all alone.

Just Sanya Kira and the beasties. They were out there alright, all manor of creatures. The crash had scared them back to a safe radius for now but they'd come creeping back eventually and she'd have to deal with them.

Better take advantage of the funa free interim. Soniee stepped out and took her first breath of the Dxun atmosphere. It was heavy and thick and made her feel dizzy but she forced herself to turn her back on the surroundings and put both hands on the hull of her ship.

This was home, this tangle of wires and panels and gears and fuzes. She had been born in a little freighter not unlike the B-7 and it was in this hunk of metal and duraplast and transparasteel, where she began her life with Korkie.

Her head cleared a little more as Soniee delved into the workings of the ship with the Force. She could feel where the damage was the worst. It wasn't unfixable but it would take concentra…

"What do you think you were doing back there?" The furious exclamation completely broke her focus.

Soniee spun around and blinked at the old man thundering toward her in a fit of rage. She laughed. She couldn't help herself. "I thought I'd imagined you."

He continued his advance. "You most certainly did not, young lady. Why the way you were flying back there, it was disgraceful. You nearly killed me. And it's a wonder you're still…"

He stopped. He was close enough now that they could see each other clearly. He was gaunt and tall with steel grey hair and a close trimmed beard. He wore a heavy, dark cloak and seemed rather well kept for a hermit on a lonely, dangerous moon.

"...Alive," he finished, looking into her eyes with that same recognition that she'd gotten from Saw and Shara and Kason.

She was prepared to go into the same speech, _Yes, I know. I look like my mother_ …

"Bremon Kira's child…" he murmured almost reverently.

Well, that was new. She nearly laughed again. Instead she shook her head. She had to be dreaming. Maybe it was still part of the vision. This old guy did look like old King Ommin from her vision. Maybe they were related. Related. Bremon Kira. Yes. "He's my father. Bremon Kira. I met him yesterday."

"And your mother was Melaana Rash." The old man patted his pockets as if he were looking for something.

Soniee nodded with a frown. "I'm told I look like her."

"Yes, well, there is a resemblance." He seemed to find what he was searching for and slipped his hand into one of the pockets. "I have something that belonged to her. It should have been yours."

That was funny. She lands here looking for answers and meets this crazy old man who has something of that belonged to her mother? Suddenly alarms blared in her mind. Something was wrong here. And then she felt the presence of the encroaching beast.

A large catlike something burst out from the trees, pouncing directly towards them. Soniee simply held up her hand. Streams of electricity shot out of her fingertips, engulfing the beast. It hung in the air writhing and screeching. Then fell about a meter away scorched and twitching.

She watched it and took deep breaths as her mind cleared with the use of her power. Then she looked back at the old man.

His expression was one of complete awe. He gazed at her with pure amazement and delight. "Yes, this should definitely have been yours. You might say it's a… family heirloom."

He drew out of his pocket a gold chain adorned with blood red stones. It was some kind of necklace.

"I don't really wear a lot of jewelry." Soniee felt for the crystal pendant that was tucked under the collar of her flight suit.

He held the thing out and nodded his encouragement for her to take it. Hesitantly she let it slither into her hand. It didn't call to her like her Kyber but there was power in this object. That didn't make any sense.

"You said it belonged to my mother?" Soniee thought all this Force stuff came through her father's line. He was the Kira wasn't he? He would have been descended from Oron and Galia and through her, back to… Nadd's blood.

He rambled but she wasn't really paying attention. "Well it should have been hers. She was the daughter of the family. Though it went to her brother for a time and he gave it to…"

"It's broken." Soniee held it up and showed it to him. "See here the clasp."

"It is." He agreed. "It was like that when I acquired it. I had hoped that I could have it fixed before I returned it to you."

"Return it to me…" She mused. But how did he even know she was coming? She hadn't even known herself. Her mind was fuzzing over again. Maybe just this place or this necklace… It did seem to be drawing something out of her. She focused on the broken clasp. That was tangible. "I could fix it. I have the tools on my ship."

"You don't know how happy it would make me to see it repaired and worn by it's proper owner."

She turned away from him but then glanced back. "Will you be alright out here, with the beasts?"

He chuckled. "I've lived here a long time, my dear. And I believe your little display will have scared them away for a good while."

" _Elek_." With the necklace tucked in her pocket Soniee boarded the B-7 and made her way to her tools. The mechanic's tools would do for the damage to the ship but they might be too big for the necklace chain. Maybe a pair of needle-nose pliers…

She examined the damage again. The chain itself was fine, but the necklace clasp was snapped in two. It was like someone had pulled at it until it had broken. Maybe her mother had even done it in a fit of emotion. That seemed like something Melaana Rash would do.

It really was a Rash family necklace. It was dripping with gems, bright red rubies in the shape of writhing snakes that proclaimed the wealth and power House Rash had held dear.

It felt powerful somehow too, like a kyber but not quite. These stones didn't call to her. They pulled, drew out and returned what they'd taken even stronger. And there was something else she felt in it: the pale panic of many young women who had endured it's pressure around their necks.

Soniee rubbed her eyes. Was that really what she was feeling or was it this moon? She'd never been so unsure in her abilities before. There had been that brief moment of clarity when she had drawn on the Force to protect them from that creature, but what she wouldn't give for a good comm with Lagos right now. She always had a way of straightening out Soniee's head during times like these.

Maybe she was on the right track though. Lagos might not be an option, but Soniee needed a friend. It was probably the middle of the night Coruscant time, and Saw would just beg her to come back, which left her one option in her rather short list of possible contacts.

Dalla wasn't looking at the projector when she picked up. _"Captain Blackwell speaking."_

"Hi, Dalla. Is this a bad time?"

Dalla's gaze snapped from what she was doing. _"Dara! Salt gods, I'm so sorry. I thought you were Cade prank-comming me."_

"Done it a few times myself." The holofield seemed to be tilting around the other girl so Soniee assumed she was on a ship. That would explain the semi-greeting.

 _"How have you been?"_ Dalla grabbed the unit and plopped down on her berth. _"You and Saw been getting to know each other better?"_

Maybe Werda had kept her mouth shut or at least what she had seen hadn't gotten as far as the northern sea yet. "Wouldn't you like to know? Commed Lux since we spoke last?" She threw back.

 _"Maybe. Nothing too juicy though. Sometimes he needs to see a friendly face when Coruscant wears him out."_

"That he does."

 _"Well what about you? Anything juicy with Saw?"_

Anything juicy? There shouldn't have been. If she was sure of anything on this moon it was that.

When all this was over she would explain things to Saw. But, that was the beginning of this whole situation, wasn't it? "Dalla, if I tell you something do you promise not to tell Saw?"

 _"Swear."_ She pressed a thumb to her lips and then held her palm facing outward to seal the oath. _"Now spill."_

"Saw and I had an … argument? Or a disagreement. It wasn't very big. I wanted to go somewhere and he said he couldn't let me, but I went anyway. He wasn't too happy about it but here I am."

 _"Where's 'here'?"_

"Dxun."

 _"Dxun?"_ Dalla repeated. _"Why in salt gods' halls would you want to go to Dxun? There's nothing there but sorcery and drexls."_

"Well drexls are a part of it." Soniee glanced to the eggs sitting in a corner of the B-7. "I felt like I had to. I thought there was something waiting for me here, but now that I've arrived it's all so confusing. Nothing makes sense and the only person here is this old hermit who wants me to fix his necklace." She held it up so Dalla could see.

Whatever reaction she'd expected, it wasn't Dalla almost falling off her berth in shock. _"Bloody Dxun! Dara, where did you get that?"_

"The hermit gave it to me. Said it belonged to my family and it should have been passed down to me. He wanted me to fix it so I could wear it and …" Dalla's eyes only got wider at the mention of the clasp. "Do you know what it is?"

 _"Do I? Dara, I'm the one who broke the kriffing thing. That's the necklace Sanjay gave to Aunt Shara and later to me as his bridal gift."_

"But that would mean it was on the planet three years ago. How did it get up here?"

 _"Saw sold it on the net after the war. Your creepy hermit guy must have been the buyer."_ That seemed to remind her of something. _"Please tell me you're on your ship. You have to get out of there now!"_

"My ship's damaged." Soniee's stomach sank. "I'm stuck here until I can fix it."

 _"Tandin has a planethopper. I'll send him to pick you up."_

"Don't do that!" Soniee didn't know the former general well at all, but she knew that whatever was brewing here was far too much for him to handle. "I'll hurry and try to get home by the end of the rotation. I thought something was off about this necklace."

 _"It's not quite normal."_ This Dalla added in a softer voice, like she was remembering something terrifying. _"Sanjay put it on me when we all got caught at the execution...I felt like I was choking. At first I thought it was a panic attack but it was like something was trying to suck the life out of me."_

Soniee shifted to the necklace. She'd felt that drawing out too, but it hadn't been painful.

Dalla was still talking. _"I must have turned blue or something because Sanjay got worried. He thought the necklace was too tight and he put his hand under it to hold it away from my neck. That made it a little better. I still couldn't get it off fast enough."_

"He put up a barrier." The puzzle was starting to assemble now. "He got it to pull at him, instead of you. He was stronger."

 _"What?"_

"Dalla, I've got to go. Please don't tell Saw about this and whatever you do, don't send anyone up to the moon."

 _"You've got to get away is what you've got to do. Fix your ship and - don't hang up on me!"_

That was the last thing Dalla's image said before Soniee hung up on her. It was all starting to make sense now. The hermit, the necklace, and everything she'd been feeling since she landed on this moon. It all clicked.

…

Deep in the catacombs, Saw's comlink buzzed and Zal picked it up curiously.

"Leave it." Saw rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Zal checked the caller's ID all the same. "It's Dalla."

"Yeah, I know. She's been comming nonstop."

"Why didn't you pick up?"

"I'm a little busy here." Saw pointed to the map of Imperial troop movements as proof. And it was true, he was busy checking everything one last time.

"You're avoiding her." Zal chuckled. "Uh oh! You think the missus found out you've got a girl on the side?"

Saw gave him a side-eyed glare. "No."

"Did you dump her for the side girl?"

"No." Dalla's comm timed out and went to voicemail.

Unfortunately that didn't stop Zal's interrogation. "Did you knock her up?"

 _"No!_ Have you been talking to Werda Flint?"

"No, should I?"

"No!"

Zal thumbed through Saw's comm history. "Dalla's commed seven times already. Are you sure she's not up the spout? Wait, is _Dara -?"_

"Neither one of them are pregnant. If you want gossip, check the holos," Saw huffed and went back to his work. "Back to the task at hand."

"I don't think you're hearing me. _Seven times._ Have you thought that there might be something really wrong?"

"Dalla is on a fishing vessel in the middle of the northern seas. What could possibly be going wrong that she'd need my help with?" The comlink in Zal's hand went off again and Saw groaned. "I don't have time for this! Zal, tell Dalla to hold on for _one kriffing -."_

"This one's not Dalla!" Zal held out the comlink as proof. "It's Shara!"

Saw pounced on the device and answered. "Hey, Aunt Shara!" He quickly stepped out into the hall and checked to make sure there wasn't anything suspicious in the holofield and then gave her his best confident grin.

It wavered when he saw Dalla's holo image next to Shara's.

 _"So you picked up your comm."_ Dalla wore an expression Saw didn't want to be on the receiving end of.

"I just saw the missed calls now. What's the problem?"

Shara spoke up. _"Saw, Dara is in grave danger."_

Saw swore under his breath. He'd feared this would happen. Why had she gotten it in her head to go to Dxun? "What's wrong?"

 _"She commed me. From Dxun,"_ Dalla explained to both her aunt and Saw. _"Apparently she took a vacation up there and when she landed she ran into an old hermit who gave her a necklace and was told it was a Rash family heirloom."_

"Oh, kriff." Only one necklace sprung to Saw's mind, and an old hermit? He didn't like the sound of that one bit.

 _"Aye, that's what I thought. Who did you sell Sanjay's betrothal necklace to, Saw?"_

"I don't know. I took the credits and forgot about it." Credits that had been spent on weapons for their first big strike against the Empire. It had almost been a blessing that Sanya had decided to spend a few days off planet right now, but if she was in danger… Kriff it, why didn't he keep that bill of sale?

Dalla opened her mouth no doubt to fire something off but Shara beat her to it. _"She's on Dxun? How did she get to Dxun?"_

"She took off this morning." He mentally calculated how long it would take to get there himself if he took off now.

 _"And you let her?"_

"I didn't let her. She… she pushed me."

Dalla practically choked. _"Pushed you with the Force?!"_

"Yeah," He tried not to wince at revealing yet another of her secrets. "She's really powerful."

 _"You knew,"_ Shara accused him. _"That's why you didn't want to tell Brem."_

"Yeah." Saw spared a glance to Dalla who was practically hyperventilating.

Shara sighed. _"Well thank goodness Brem doesn't know about this."_

"He knows she's alive. He … found us yesterday."

Dalla raised an eyebrow. _"Found you doing what, exactly?"_

"Not important," he said hurriedly before glossing over the last bit. "What is important is that he knows now and he knows she's Force sensitive."

 _"I knew she must be to have survived Mel's crash. And that must have been what caused Brem to send them away in the first place."_ Shara closed her eyes for a second. _"Maybe he was right to keep her away from Naidon and the prophecy."_

"She's already found her own way into the chamber in the tunnels. Didn't find anything there but some drexl eggs."

 _"She found what?!"_ Dalla cried. _"And wait, what is this prophecy and who's Naidon?"_

Shara took a deep breath before she began her narration. " _When Bremon was a little boy his Uncle Naidon took him to Dxun_?"

" _He brought his own nephew to the demon moon? For what, a holiday?_ " Dalla asked, incredulous.

" _It wasn't for a holiday. It was during the outbreak of the Dalgos Flu_." Shara bowed her head.

"You had the Dalgos Flu didn't you, Aunt Shara?"

" _I did. Many others weren't so lucky. It took my mother and both Bremon's parents_." She shook her head. " _Supposedly Naidon Kira brought Brem up to Dxun to get him away from the contagion._ "

" _His parents died while he was gone. That's terrible_."

Shara went on. " _While they were on the moon Brem's uncle took him to some sort of old tomb. Brem says that he heard a voice speaking over him there. It said that one day he would become the father of a powerful child_."

 _"He knew about Dara before she was born!"_

"Her name is Sanya." Saw corrected. "And yes. Aunt Shara, wasn't Brem's Uncle Nadd some kind of sorcerer?"

Shara's image nodded in the holoprojection. " _He and Bremon fought on the day Melaana flew away. She was having contractions. She had a med droid with her. Brem's Uncle Naidon wanted the child_ …"

"And then he disappeared." Saw remembered. He'd only been little at the time but he had vague memories of the old wizard. "He didn't get his hands on what he wanted so he left Iziz."

" _What if he didn't go that far?"_ Dalla asked. " _What if he went back to Dxun to that tomb or whatever it was to figure out what to do next? What if he's been there all this time waiting for the child of the prophecy to return?_ "

…

Tools. She needed tools small enough to fix the clasp. And she knew just where she kept them even though everything else was muddled. The screwdriver and pliers and even her soldering kit, she hadn't used them in ages. She used to use them all the time back at the academy, fixing datapads and comm units and holoprojectors for her friends.

She reached into the box where she had stowed them away and they felt so familiar, like an extension of her hand. And there was something else in the box, her old display visor. Oh how many times had she hidden behind that thing to block out the noise and the pressure…

It hit her then. Not a vision of a long dead princess or even something from her mother's journal. It was her own memory.

 _She felt him coming down the hallway towards her._

 _"It's open, Korkie. Come on in."_

 _"How did you know it was me?"_

 _"Everyone else is on holiday. How was tea with the Duchess?"_

 _"Insightful."_

 _"She just got back from Coruscant, didn't she?"_

 _"She went to attend a funeral… It was the Jedi, Kenobi."_

"But he's alive!" Soniee said to the boy in her memory. And he had been. They found out a week later, that it had been a ruse so that Master Kenobi could foil a plot to kill the Chancellor. Now the Chancellor turned Emperor wanted him dead but… he wasn't. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew that somehow Master Kenobi had so far successfully evaded the purge. "He's alive! And my father is too, Korkie! I met him yesterday!"

But the vision/memory went on without her interruption.

 _"What is it, Korkie? What do you need my help with?"_

"I ... would like your help with something. The Duchess told me something just now, something about her past."

"Oh Korkie, I could use your help right now. I always felt stronger with you, more focused. I'm on this moon. I think there are answers here. And there's an old man. I think he's got something to do with it. I'm supposed to find something or fix something, but I don't know what."

Soniee wiped tears from her eyes and pressed the heels of her hands to her temples.

"I remember when we looked up the Duchess's past together and found out the truth, that she was your mother. I've been learning about my mother too, from her journal…"

Her eyes shot open. The journal! The reason her mother left Onderon!

She raced to the cockpit. It had been on the copilot's seat during the crash. It had fallen to the floor but it was still here.

Soniee opened the cover, the end of her mother's story. She had been avoiding jumping ahead but now she needed to know.

The Onderonian runes were tear stained here and wobbly in places but, of course they would be, she was in labor and she had just flown away from her home and her husband. Soniee turned to the beginning of the entry on the day of her birth and she read.

Korkie would have been no help for this part he was terrible at languages. The thought made her smile.

She read about the times that Melaana didn't where she had been or what she had been doing. How she felt like she had come out of a trance deep down in the tunnels under the city and Naidon Kira, Brem's Uncle, had been there.

Melaana had dreamed about that place, the chamber with the blocked stone archway. She had been curious about it, about what was behind that door. Again and again she went there in her dreams and tried to open it. Uncle Nadd was desperate for her to open it.

No, not her. Melaana wasn't the one with the power to raise the stone. It was the child she carried. Uncle Nadd wanted the child.

Soniee could almost hear the echo of his voice, " _You must let her finish the work!_ "

"But I've opened it. There was nothing there."

Again a vision flash through her mind. _King Ommin was dead. The Jedi had put down the Naddist uprising. Master Arca showed Galia and her husband the plans for a great tomb on the moon, Dxun, designed to withstand the ravages of time. The sarcophagi of Queen Amanoa, King Ommin and that of Freedon Nadd himself along with all of their dark side influence were removed to that place till they finally returned to dust..._

"It was empty because everything was moved here to Dxun." She realized something then with utmost certainty. "And my great Uncle Naidon still wants it, wants me to get it for him."

 _That's right!_ Grandfather's voice echoed.

"You leave me alone! I'm not ready to deal with you yet!" It probably wasn't wise to talk back to the spirit of an ancient Dark Jedi that way but she had other things to attend to and she thought he probably knew that.

She drew the necklace out of her pocket again. "That old man is Naidon Kira and he thinks I need this necklace to open the tomb for him. Couldn't you have just told me that in the first place?"

 _I thought you wanted to be left alone_.

With a sigh she picked up one of her tools to make the simple repair on the necklace clasp. "Not really. I'd actually prefer to be with Korkie."

 _You will. Some day._

She nearly dropped the pliers. "But I have to finish this first."

The voice didn't answer.

"Rather ostentatious thing isn't it?" She held up the necklace and took a deep breath. "It would have looked better with my ball gown." And then she put it on. She arranged it over her collar bone and felt to make sure that her other pendant was still in its place. Power seemed to draw from one and flow through the other and fill her with a giddy sense of purpose and determination.

"What would you think of seeing your wife in something like this, Kork?"

Reality crashed back down on her. He couldn't answer. She shouldn't even be thinking about him, bringing him into this mess.

"I'm sorry." She whispered and wondered how much he had _heard_ already, from wherever he was, halfway across the galaxy. Maybe someday he could forgive her for everything, for still needing him.

She took a deep breath and stood. There laying over the back of her seat was a jacket. She could almost hear Momma telling her to put it on. There was a little bit of a nip in the air.

It was the piloting jacket, Melaana's. She could read the runes now. It said, "Ruping Queen." Of course, that was the name of her ship. The one Dane had given her. The one in which she had made her escape from the man outside. Soniee slipped it on like a layer of armor and then she continued on to the hatch.

The old man was waiting for her there. He smiled.

"Well, Great Uncle Naidon or whoever you are. I opened the chamber. There was nothing there but I'm guessing you know that or you would have come back and tried again with this." She touched the necklace at her throat. "Now I suppose it's time for you to show me my destiny."

* * *

This chapter draws heavily on way back in the first chapter of the Ashla Spectrum and the last chapters of the Ashla Awareness and once again "Tales of the Jedi: the Freedon Nadd Uprising".


	32. loyalty to the crown

Soniee has heard the ballad and danced the waltz. She has even had visions about the event and knows how it parallels her own parents love story.  
Before we move on, here is the way it really happened...

* * *

Mordecai Rash felt the precious stones in his pocket. They weighed heavily and even more so the other reward that came with them. He had hardly ever even seen the princess other than at court, standing with her aged parents, stately and cool, as pale as the light of the four moons on a summer night. She was young and beautiful and he hardly deserved her hand no matter what services he had supposedly rendered to the crown.

He stepped out of the palace doors into the sprawling garden. He meant to simply get a breath of fresh air after the shock of the news of his betrothal. He didn't expect to find his betrothed there as well.

"Hello, Lord Rash, isn't it?" she addressed him with a small nod.

As the personage of less nobility, Mordecai bowed low before her. "Yes, Your Grace. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"No, you didn't…" she sighed. "We might as well get used to it. I guess we're going to be seeing quite a lot of each other."

"Princess Galia, I didn't… What I mean to say is I didn't ask for any of this."

"Please, it's just Galia. And… I know. My mother told me. I guess I'm just some prize to be won."

"I don't think that… Galia." He tried out the name and was rewarded with her smile. "I certainly haven't done anything worthy of you."

"You dealt with some traitors to the crown? Isn't that correct?" She asked.

Mordecai bristled. "I led my own sister out of the city gates to her exile, she and her husband and my niece and…" he gulped, "her unborn child."

"I'm sorry." Galia bit her lip. "She was your half-sister?"

"In the eyes of the law, I suppose. That never mattered to us. She didn't do anything to deserve it and neither did her children. Aloysius, her husband," Mordecai lowered his voice, unsure if what he was about to say would brand him as a traitor also. "I can't imagine that he would have done anything worthy of exile, either. He was your father's steward."

The princess nodded thoughtfully. "I wish I could ask my father about it. He's missing."

"The King is…" he exclaimed.

"Shhh…" She hushed him laying a hand on his arm. It was the first time either of them dared make physical contact. "No one is supposed to know. He was in his laboratory and then… Anyway Mother doesn't seem worried about it. She's taking care of things in his absence. It will be she who arranged for you and I." She looked very sad for a moment.

"You don't want to marry me." He assumed. "You're in love with someone else."

"No." she smiled. "I guess you could say I'm in love with the idea of being in love. Always dreamed of someone coming in and sweeping me off my feet."

Mordecai cleared his throat. "I don't know about all that, Princess, but I will try to be a good husband to you."

Galia lowered her head. "And when I'm queen, I'll see about letting your sister and her family return to the city."

"You would do that?"

"Of course."

He took both of her hands in his and then impulsively bent to kiss her cheek. "Of course that won't be for many years. Long live the King and Queen."

"Long live the King and Queen." She repeated. Her parents were old. She knew that someday much too soon their responsibility would fall on her. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad with a kind gentleman like Mordecai Rash at her side. He wasn't quite the commanding presence she had hoped to have rule with her as her equal but she thought she could at least count on him to be an ally.

He fell into the more formal address as he took his leave of her. "I will see you again soon, Your Grace."

She didn't correct him this time. "Yes, of course, Lord Rash."

When he was past the garden wall, Mordecai's hand went again into his pocket where he'd stowed the jewels. He'd have them made up into something for her, for Galia. It would be a setting that represented his house to symbolize their union. That settled, he smiled again. He was going to be married to the Princess of Onderon, after all.

…

Back in the palace garden, Galia sighed. She thought she was alone until she heard a deep voice laughing. "Who's there?" she demanded.

She turned toward the continued laughter and saw the leaves of the top of one of the trees by the wall rustling, before a mountain of a man jumped lightly to the ground. He had dark skin, bulging with muscle and wild hair that hung past his shoulders. He also had an agility and a head for heights if he'd been able to balance up in that tree even with his bulk.

She supposed she should have been afraid of him. After all he probably could have snapped her in half. He was in her territory, however, and she was more annoyed than anything. "Have you been spying on me?"

He shrugged, still smiling. "I've got to tell the clan something when I go back. You're more interesting than the old'uns."

"You're a beast rider!"

"And you're the princess." He gave her a little mock bow.

She found his irreverence enchanting in spite of herself, though she managed not to smile back at him. "I should call the guards to drag you down to the dungeon."

"Probably." He nodded. "But my father might have something to say about that."

"Who's your father?" She really should call the guards. If a beast rider had made it this far into the city, into her very own garden, she wasn't the only one in danger.

"Modon Kira." He shrugged again as if it wasn't any big thing.

"Modon…" Her eyes widened but it was the only outward expression of her shock. "As in Lord of all the beast riders, Modon Kira?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "Sort of makes me as much royalty as you are."

She couldn't help but smile at that. It was refreshing to meet someone who treated her as an equal, not like a porcelain doll or a bargaining chip. "What's your name?"

"Oron." He crossed his arms over… well she was trying not to stare at his bare chest.

"I-I'm Galia."

"I know." He didn't seem to have the same reservations about staring. "So who was the dalgo chow who just walked out?"

"He wasn't…" She huffed but she wasn't exactly sure why she was defending him. "He wasn't dalgo chow. He was… my betrothed."

"You can't tell me you actually want to marry that…" he bit back the insult he had intended. She was sure it would have been a doozy. It was also the first time she had seen him frown. He couldn't possibly be jealous. They'd only just met.

Honestly she hadn't even considered being upset with the match her parents had planned for her. Now that Oron Kira mentioned it however… "I don't suppose I have a choice."

His forehead creased in a hard angry line and she was glad it wasn't her he was mad at. "You should, though. You're the princess. You're going to be the queen. You should be able to marry whoever you want."

"Well I don't know about that." She wavered. "I have to trust that my parents know what's best." But did they? They were rather old and could be out of touch what was going on in the city and beyond the walls.

"Your father who's missing?" He inquired.

Galia spun away from him with a gasp. "You shouldn't have heard that. No one is supposed to know." How could she have allowed the enemy know something so vital? But was he the enemy? All her life she'd been told the beast riders were barbaric savages. This Oron Kira despite his outward appearance seemed as cultured as any of the young men she had seen at court.

"If your father's not around he can't force you to do anything. And…" he smiled again catching her off guard and her breath in her throat. "It's not like your frail old mum could drag you to the binding."

"She's more powerful than you think," Galia snapped back.

He took her hand. She hadn't even realized that they had moved this close together. "Galia, I-" Just then there was a sound like a bird cry and he looked up to the top of the wall. It must have been some sort of signal.

He frowned disappointedly down at the garden path and then looked into her eyes. "Can I come and see you again?"

"I-I… yes." She smiled already anticipating their next meeting.

Again his dark features brightened into a grin. "Just promise you won't marry the dalgo chow till I can get back here?"

"He's not…" Galia laughed. "I promise."

Again the signal sounded and though he grunted with frustration, Oron smiled and squeezed her hand once more. "I'll be thinking of you till I see you again." It was the Onderonian word for goodbye.

Galia repeated the word. She would be thinking of him. She couldn't imagine that she would be thinking of much of anything else.

Then with a graceful running leap, he bounded back into the tree branches and then to the top of the wall. He looked back and waved before he disappeared into the city and then presumably to the wilds beyond.

* * *

The half-sister of Mordecai Rash and her exiled family have further reaching connections into the Polaris universe, but that is a tale for another day.


	33. Upon this Rock

Getting back to Dxun where Soniee and her Great Uncle are making their way towards the tomb of Freedon Nadd.

* * *

He nodded to her with great respect and extended his arm gallantly. She in turn offered her hand so that he could escort her to their destination. It was all very proper. One would have thought they were just taking a stroll down a hall in a royal court and not traversing the surface of a dangerous jungle moon.

"The necklace looks lovely on you, my dear."

Soniee bowed her head in acceptance of the complement. "Why thank you, Uncle Naidon. It really was no trouble at all to repair it."

"Did you…" He waved his hand as if performing a magic trick.

"No. None of that was necessary." She smiled. "Just the right tools and the knowledge of how to use them."

He patted her hand. "You've proved yourself very resourceful. You say you opened the chamber?"

"I did." She nodded. "There was nothing there but a stain on the floor and some drexl eggs." She didn't tell him about the voice she had heard there or that it had instructed her to move forward in her search.

"So you see it wouldn't have mattered at all if you'd been allowed to open it when you were a baby. I only discovered later that the artifacts had been removed here to the moon." Naidon cleared his throat. "Of course, I really did you a favor there, didn't I?"

"A favor?"

"Yes." He smiled his most benevolent smile. "Had you been born on Onderon in the Iziz Medical Center, the health care workers would have surely tested your blood. They would have known at once what you are and whisked you right off to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

Soniee had never thought of that. It was true in the Mandalore system the blood test that the Jedi used to find those who were like themselves had been outlawed. Any _Resol'nare_ respecting _Mando'ad_ would never send their child away to be raised by a religious cult. Family and raising strong children were too important to their culture. But here things were different. It might have been a great honor to have a child who possessed other worldly abilities, and to hand them over to those who understood and could train up their blessed offspring to use those gifts.

She had wondered what that would have been like, growing up with Ahsoka and Barriss at the Temple. She could have learned how to meditate and fight and control her emotions. Soniee felt the crystal hidden beneath the collar of her flight suit. She might have used it to construct her own lightsaber.

He was forgetting one thing, however, a painful truth. "That favor killed my mother," she said as calmly as she could manage but again she could feel the electricity swirl around them.

"Many women die in childbirth," Naidon trivialized. "There's no guarantee she would have survived the ordeal here either."

Soniee would have liked to finish the argument then and there but instead she swallowed back her anger for a more appropriate moment. Her mother was one thing but he had no way of knowing how close she herself had come to finding _Manda_ in that very fashion.

"You were adopted, were you not? You were able to experience the joys of a mother's love?"

"I was." And she was able to experience the grief of losing _Ordo'buir_.

"There you see. No growing up in a cold padawan's cell and where would you be now that the new Empire has killed them all."

"I don't know, Uncle." He didn't know that she had friends among the dead and presumed dead and missing. She had to change the subject before she became angry enough to blast him. "I suppose we'll never know. The point is that I did open the chamber and I didn't need this." She touched the necklace.

"No." He patted her hand. "Of course you wouldn't need such a symbol as the Nadd stones to prove your worth."

"Is that what this is for?" Is that why all the previous owners had found the necklace so uncomfortable, to put it mildly? She wondered. They hadn't been worthy…

She stopped walking and turned to face him. She could hear the beasts ranging closer again but she didn't want to be interrupted so she thought of a barrier between she and the old wizard and their would-be attackers. Then she willed it into existence. "I thought that the prophecy and…. Nadd's blood… I thought that all came through your side of the family, the Kira side. But you said the necklace was a Rash family heirloom."

The old man's face brightened as if he had been waiting for ages for someone to ask him just that very question. Maybe he had. He certainly hadn't had anyone to talk to up here on the moon for the past 20 years and this did seem to be his favorite subject.

"Legend has it that the Rash family was promised a place in the line of the child."

"The child. Meaning me?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes!" He took both her hands, squeezing almost painfully tight in his excitement. "Some of the raw stones were originally given to Princess Galia's suitor."

"Her betrothed…" Soniee remembered from her vision but she said, "from the song."

"The waltz! The three lovers! Yes!" he nodded madly. "He had them mounted into the serpent setting you have there."

She mumbled to herself as she continued walking. She didn't need him to show her they way. She could feel their eventual destination. "Mordecai Rash was given the stones as a test. He was deemed worthy of Galia because he could handle them with very little aversion."

Naidon Kira stared at her but he didn't ask how she knew the name of her ancestor or the other details about his life.

"But he didn't end up marrying her." Soniee looked back at her Great Uncle and he hurried to catch up and continue the story.

"No. No he did not. And it was then that our other ancestor entered the story, as you know?" he prodded.

"Oron Kira…" she mused.

"Most people forgot about the Rash connection after that. They thought it was just something Queen Amanoa told her handmaiden to ensure her loyalty to the crown. The-the queen had let Lady Rash in on certain of her secrets," Naidon continued. "So the stories say, she had to find some way to hide the truth."

"The truth?"

"The truth of how the royal princes, Galia's older brothers, had all died in infancy. The queen was told that the line of Nadd would run through her daughter. She couldn't risk a male child being the primary heir to the throne."

"She killed her own sons?" That stopped Soniee in her tracks but Great Uncle Naidon didn't dwell on the subject.

"It seems there was some truth to the promise of the Rash connection however. You are the proof."

"And you knew my mother was… worthy to marry my father when you saw her wear this necklace?"

Naidon shook his head. "I never saw Melaana wear it, only your aunt."

"My Aunt Shara who was married to my Uncle Sanjay at the time." The realization hit her like a bolt between the eyes. Shara was her aunt. Again, he didn't give her time to ruminate.

"The first time I saw the stones they rang a bell but I didn't remember the whole story. It wasn't till I came back here and reread the old texts that I understood the significance of the stones in the necklace."

"That wasn't their only setting." Soniee murmured, pushing ahead again through the thick undergrowth. She ignored her Uncle's questions as he struggled up the hill behind her. She was remembering something else from her vision. The machine that had been keeping King Ommin alive, the device from which Grandfather's spirit had sprung, there was a dagger set with the same blood red stones.

"There were rumors of other objects adorned with the stones." Naidon Kira had a manic gleam in his eyes.

 _He knows more than what he's telling you_. Grandfather's voice spoke again in her mind.

 _Well obviously,_ she thought back at him. _But you're not being much help either._

 _You're just not asking the right questions._

"What are the stones, Uncle Naidon?" she asked and she could almost feel the nod of encouragement. "Not Kybers."

"You know of the crystals used by the jedi?" Nadion practically danced with glee.

 _Fool! For all his talk of worth. He's not worthy to carry the title of Kira much less Nadd._

Soniee tried to wave away the thought. _At least he's giving me answers_.

"No, the Nadd stones are not Kyber crystals. They are a much rarer specimen called Adegan crystals specifically the p-pontite variety." He stuttered in his excitement. "Also used by the Jedi when they could be found. F-Freedon Nadd discovered one of the last known deposits in his early travels."

 _What does he know about it?_

Soniee rolled her eyes.

"It was also said that he found the Sith holocron of the Dark Lord Naga Sadow and that he possessed the power to enter the presence of the Jedi high council with the object concealed from their knowledge."

 _Well, maybe he's heard a thing or two_. Pride radiated from the voice in her mind.

"It was through his study of this object that he learned the ancient Sith art of b-bleeding the crystals."

"Bleeding the crystals?" Soniee listened but the voice in her head had gotten strangely quiet. The presence there almost felt… ashamed.

"Why yes," Naidon went on. "The crystals are alive. They feel pain, and when they endure enough of it… they bleed. They turn red."

Soniee wanted to rip the necklace from her throat. "Is this true?" she asked, indignant and aloud.

Naidon seemed to know that he wasn't the one she was speaking to. He stared around as if the object of her inquiry might suddenly appear.

 _I was young then_. Still the voice spoke only to her and there was a sulkiness to the tone. _Probably not over one hundred eighty. Anyway I only did it because I thought I might be able to help the Onderonians who couldn't help themselves. They were being regularly devoured by drexls. I thought if I could find a way to… share my powers with them…_

 _You were trying to use the crystals to make them Force sensitive?_ She managed to keep her question silent this time.

 _Well, not completely. I knew I couldn't 'make' Jedi_. Grandfather sighed, exasperated.

Soniee remembered his voice from her vision, " _My mummified flesh sleeps on stone. But this old man called my spirit back from chaos… I have given him my knowledge…"_

"Called back," she breathed barely above a whisper. "Given knowledge but not… not until." Her gaze fell again on Great Uncle Naidon. "Tell me more about the prophecy."

The old man had been staring at her in rapt amazement. He had to take a moment to collect himself when she addressed him directly. "The- the prophecy… yes… the uh prophecy. Freedon Nadd lived for a thousand years learning everything he could about the secrets of the galaxy and sharing his knowledge with anyone who came to him with a desire to learn be they Jedi or not. And then one day he decided to discontinue the methods of lengthening his life and live as a normal man. He took a wife. She was pregnant with his child when he died."

"But the child didn't possess his power." Soniee guessed. It sounded like his students couldn't get the poor kid to do any majik tricks for them.

"Exactly!" Naidon exclaimed. "Our ancestor's last words were recorded, 'The child will set things right.' but for generations no child of the Nadd bloodlines has inherited his power. There have been signs for those of us who kept the vigil: Queen Amanoa's knowledge that the line would continue through her daughter and not her sons…"

"The words spoken over my father when he was a little boy." Soniee supplied with a frown. _Set things right?_ She inquired in her mind.

 _Not in the way he thinks_ …

Great Uncle Naidon took hold of both her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You are truly the child we've waited for. You have fulfilled the prophetic words, opened the chamber and you can control the beasts." He looked around as if daring them to come closer so that she could show off her prowess again.

A shiver ran through Soniee. Well, it felt like a shiver to her. Uncle Naidon released her like he'd gotten a static shock. She didn't want him to touch her. She walked a few steps away.

 _It's not me he wants_. She realized. _It's you. I'm just the key. He thinks he can use me to call you back or… or retrieve something that can_.

There was no answer in words but she could feel the affirmative.

 _I could kill him now, leave this place, leave you in peace…_

The voice that answered felt exhausted. _No, child. It wouldn't work that way. Someone else would come. They already suspect. They may already be on their way_ …

 _Then_ … she thought. _Whatever it is… I need it too?_

Soniee turned back to her great uncle. "What is it? What is it you expect me to find?"

"You'll see soon enough." Naidon Kira pointed to a great iron structure that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "Look."


	34. Sisters and Brothers

Re-introducing a character from a previous chapter and giving her a little more background. Also another character from Rebels joins the mix and how my poor sweet Korkie is fairing.

* * *

This had to be the most boring mission ever in the history of the galaxy and she knew boring. Being stuck in a dark cell for months should have prepared her for all this sitting around and doing nothing. At least then she'd had someone else to talk to.

 _She judged he was male by the deep voice that spoke to her from the other side of the wall. She didn't even hazard a guess at his species. She could have been conversing with a female Hutt for all she knew. At least his voice broke the monotony._

 _They had both managed to tick off the Jedi somehow, she discovered that much from their discussions. Though neither of them was convinced that the Order knew they were even here. The Jedi were too busy carrying on with their war. They would hardly notice two prisoners being held uncounted levels beneath their precious temple._

 _There was something else down here as well._

 _"I can feel it too," her companion had told her. "Ironic, isn't it? The darkness that stands as the foundation of all their light and high morals."_

 _She shared his cynical view. It still didn't explain who was keeping them here or why. If they spoke of it or not they both wondered constantly if whoever put them down here was going to kill them or use them for leverage or just leave them to rot. They continued to receive meals, so at least it seemed that someone wanted them alive._

 _And then one day they both felt it. It was as if one after another, sometimes alone and sometimes in larger groups, points of light, signatures of beings who they had once known, were snuffed out like candles. The Jedi were dying or being put to death. She shouldn't have cared. They had turned their backs on her. And even before that they had given themselves over to the evils of war._

 _"Good riddance." Her fellow captive's voice was defiant but the feeling behind the words wasn't quite so certain. Was he, like her, fearful of what this meant for either of them who had both once been counted among that order? "Someone finally decided to give them what they deserved."_

 _"Yes." She agreed. The Jedi had deserved this end but didn't she also for participating as long as she had before she thought better of it?_

 _She expected every day for someone to come and take vengeance on her as well. Life for she and her companion however went on as it had before. Their meals arrived regularly with no news of what was going on up above, until he came…_

 _He allowed them to feel his power as he descended through the corridors to their deep dungeon. She had never felt anything quite like it so strong, so dark, so intoxicating. But she must have. Something like this couldn't have appeared out of nowhere. It felt like the pull of the ancient darkness that existed below their cells but this was full and alive and concentrated around a single being._

 _Their cell doors sprang open with his arrival and for the first time in over a year she stepped out and saw that her fellow prisoner was a tall, greyskined Pau'an. He gave her a slight nod of recognition. Whatever this was, they were in it together. Or were they? What if whoever released them only required one? What if they were to be pitted against each other? The doubts rankled her as they stared unspeaking into each other's eyes for the first time._

 _"Good, good." A voice spoke and they both turned to face the dark hooded stranger. "I see that the two of you are already acquainted. It pleases me that the first brother and sister of my new order are on speaking terms."_

 _"Your new order, Sir?" The Pau'an asked knowing somehow that this being deserved his full respect but also feeling that his curiosity would be acceptable at least to a point._

 _"Yes, whom do we have the honor of addressing?" She followed the lead of her 'brother'._

 _Under the hood she could just make out a twisted grin. "Your new Master, if you choose to continue your training."_

 _"Training?" She chanced a glance at the Pau'an once again._

 _"To hunt down and destroy the last of the traitorous Jedi." The Master explained quietly but the air crackled around them with power._

 _They must have both been sure of the answer but still the Pau'an voiced the question. "And if we choose to decline your offer?"_

 _"Then you will die." The Master raised his gnarled hands and arches of electricity streamed from them to engulf both of the recently released prisoners._

 _She screamed in pain but was still aware of the the second figure, masked and caped in black, and the sound of his mechanically assisted breathing._

 _…_

 _It wasn't much of a choice. They begin their training and after several months it became clear that there was to be a measure of competition between she and her former prison mate. That was only to encourage them to be better, though. Wasn't it?_

 _The training was like nothing she had ever experienced. Though the skills were similar to those any Force sensitive youngling might have once been taught in the Jedi temple these lessons were much more intense. There was no tolerance for failure, and mistakes or weaknesses were severely punished._

 _Though she could appreciate how she was being made harder, stronger, it was a relief when the idea of finally leaving this place to go out into the galaxy and perform her duty was brought up in one of their sessions with the Master. They were told to reach out into the Force and divine where they believed that they should begin the search for the remaining Jedi._

 _She had never been especially accomplished at that sort of thing. The physical Force, medical applications specifically, knowing where a being was injured how to ease their pain or how to cause the most damage with her lightsaber, these were her strengths. She could tell this was a test. Thankfully though she knew where to look. Someone had once mentioned to her…._

 _Her eyes sprang open as if the information had just come to her in her vision. The Master was not to be fooled but he humored her for the moment. "You have sensed something?"_

 _She gulped. "Mandalore. The false Sith once proclaimed himself its leader and it was the last known location of the ex-jedi Tano."_

 _Unable to meet the yellow eyes under the hood, she turned her gaze to the Pau'an who glared at the tabletop, undoubtedly upset that he hadn't been able to have the first answer to give to the Master._

 _"You believe one of these pretenders may still be hiding in that system?" The harsh voice scoffed, incredulously._

 _The Pau'an's sharp teeth appeared in a grin._

 _"Not them, no." She hurried to qualify. "I am sure, my Lord, that you would have sensed either Maul or Ahsoka yourself. I only meant that they might have gathered others. The Zabrak was known to have taken an apprentice before. Perhaps he couldn't resist the temptation of doing so again."_

 _She chanced a glance up at the yellow eyes under the hood and found that she couldn't look away while he studied her. "You wish the opportunity to go and search for these supposed acolytes?"_

 _She dropped her gaze again meekly as soon as she was free to do so. "Y-yes, my Lord."_

 _…_

 _Her request had been granted. Not only that, she had made the trip to the Mandalore system with twin, red-bladed lightsabers strapped to her belt. They felt comfortable in her hands as did the mask that covered her face._

 _Best of all she had found the connection she was looking for. Representative Soniee Ordo, untrained Force sensitive, was alive, or had been after the destruction of Concord Dawn. The Master would reward her for this information._

 _On the flight back to Coruscant, she began her research. Had there been any sightings of the illusive Representative? The first item to pop up on the holo was from a gossip tabloid but there might have been a grain of truth behind the lies told by the politician Lux Bonteri._

 _He had been joined at a ball on his home planet of Onderon by his half-sister, Dara Rash, a young woman who bore a striking resemblance to his one time suspected lover…_

 _Oh yes! The Master would be pleased with her discovery! Her only regret was that she didn't have the girl already in her custody._

 _…_

 _She entered his presence giddy with excitement, only to be upstaged by her rival._

 _"Your mission went well?" The Master smiled his twisted smile beneath the hood._

 _"As did that of your brother."_

 _From the darkness at the edge of the chamber stepped the Pau'an followed by two other beings._

 _The Master seemed to take pleasure in her shock and anger as he addressed his new favorite pupil. "Grand Inquisitor, why don't you introduce Second Sister to your new siblings?"_

 _…_

So no, she hadn't told them about her _almost_ success, but she would show them. Two lowly Force sensitives who had only recently discovered their abilities might have been a fine initial catch but if what Prime Minister Almec told her was true, Second Sister still had an Idiot's Array up her sleeve.

Soniee Ordo had used her powers on him. She might have received training from Darth Maul. And this connection to Onderon was intriguing. Onderon and its nearest moon had a history with the Force.

So here she sat in the shadows on a balcony of an apartment in the Senate district waiting to over hear something that would give her a clue to the whereabouts of her prey.

For all his reputation of being a playboy, Lux Bonteri was turning out to be one of the most boring young men in the galaxy. That is until his comm unit chimed in the middle of the night with a very interesting message to relay.

…

Lux was not happy to be woken up at this hour, not after the day he'd had. Stars, the only reason he'd taken the comm at all was because he thought it was an emergency. That reason disappeared when his friend's image materialized before him.

"Dalla, do you know what time it is here?" he groaned. "I'm trying to sleep."

 _"I would have called later but this couldn't wait. Dara is in trouble and Saw's completely frakking useless!"_

Thoughts of sleep flew out of Lux's head. "Dara's in trouble?" A hundred possibilities came to him, none of them good. "How?"

 _"She commed me a few hours ago, from Dxun."_

"Dxun?" Lux repeated. That wasn't on his list of possibilities. "What in the galaxy was she doing there?"

 _"That's the million-credit question!"_ Dalla's volume increased and Lux resisted the urge to adjust the speakers on his comm unit. _"She says she felt like she had to go, and I was going to tell her there was nothing up there but beasts and ghosts when she told me she'd met some creepy old hermit. And then she pulled out the necklace!"_

"Are you talking about _the necklace_ , the one Rash put on you during the execution? Saw sold that offworld! How'd it get to Dxun?"

 _"Aye, same necklace and no, I have no kriffing clue. Do you?"_

"No." He swore under his breath. "Kriff, kriff, kriff! Is she answering your comms?"

 _"No. I'm at sea so I can't go get her myself and Saw won't. Can you give her a comm just to make sure she's okay?"_

"And try to talk some sense into her so she'll leave that demon moon?"

 _"Aye."_

"I'll comm you back once I've spoken to her."

...

Second Sister had only managed to hear bits and pieces of the conversation, but two words had rung out loud and clear. Dara was on Dxun. For what reason could a powerful Force user in hiding have felt it necessary to visit such a historically dark location? She was sure as Haran going to find out!

* * *

He'd been getting flashes for the last couple of days: a man with green eyes just like hers, a chamber deep underground, a dark stain on the floor. Was that blood? If it was it had been there for ages. And… Were those eggs?

Then there must have been something she didn't want anyone to see. Korkie felt like he had been completely blocked from her consciousness. Not that he could have made contact with her from his end anyway. Still it bothered him more than he cared to admit that she was doing something that she wanted to make sure he didn't walk in on. It wasn't any of his business. She was welcome to move on with her own life.

After that he got a flash of Soniee flying and then… a crash! But no! She was okay. He would know if something had happened to her. She was alive.

Korkie needed to be by himself to think. That was why he had requested this scouting mission. He wasn't a bad pilot. His wife had taught him a few things during those early, happy days of their marriage and Rau had continued his instruction for the Concord Dawn deployment. Actually the route he was supposed to fly was already programed into the nav computer. All he had to do was let the ship do its thing and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

He let his mind wander. He remembered the day when they were back at the academy. It was during the hols and he had gone to her room to ask her to help him look up his mom's past. His mom was on Coruscant at his father's mock funeral. And then… she spoke to him! This wasn't part of the memory! She was speaking to him! Now! Directly!

" _But he's alive! He's alive! And my father is too, Korkie! I met him yesterday!_ "

What was she talking about? Kenobi? Alive? How could she possibly know that? And she had met her own father? The man he had seen in the flash she had given him, with her same green eyes, It was her father!

Then she was speaking again. _"Oh Korkie, I could use your help right now. I always felt stronger with you, more focused. I'm on this moon. I think there are answers here. And there's an old man. I think he's got something to do with it. I'm supposed to find something or fix something, but I don't know what._ "

He wanted to answer but the words choked off in his throat. It was just so amazing to hear her voice even if it was only just in his head.

 _"I remember when we looked up the Duchess's past together and found out the truth, that she was your mother. I've been learning about my mother too, from her journal_ …"

She was on the move. He remembered the journal she had found in her birth mother's ship. Soniee must have found a way to translate it! So it must have been Onderon, where she went. But she said something about a moon…

He was glad she was making progress in finding out about her own history. Korkie was certainly never going to be helpful with that. He was terrible at languages.

" _But I've opened it. There was nothing there. It was empty because everything was moved here to Dxun_." Dxun! That's where she was! " _And my great Uncle Naidon still wants it, wants me to get it for him_."

Korkie nearly spoke up but was cut off.

" _You leave me alone! I'm not ready to deal with you yet! That old man is Naidon Kira and he thinks I need this necklace to open the tomb for him. Couldn't you have just told me that in the first place?_ "

She was speaking to someone else now. It was like he was listening in on only one side of a comm.

" _Not really. I'd actually prefer to be with Korkie_."

Korkie nearly choked. She did think of him. She wanted to be with him. She paused and then seemed surprised at the answer she received. " _But I have to finish this first_."

 _Finish what?_ He wanted to ask her but before he got the words out it felt like she was speaking to him again.

" _Rather ostentatious thing isn't it?_ " She took a deep breath. " _It would have looked better with my ball gown._ "

And then he could see her! As if she were sitting across the cockpit from him. She was wearing her flight suit with a brilliant necklace around her throat. It was made up of red stones arranged in the shape of seven serpents' heads.

" _What would you think of seeing your wife in something like this, Kork?_ "

They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before reality seemed to crash back down on her. He couldn't answer. She shouldn't even be thinking about him, bringing him into this mess.

" _I'm sorry_." She whispered and he knew what she was thinking, that she wished someday he might be able to forgive her for everything, for still needing him.

Their connection slammed shut and again he focused on the controls of the _Kom'rk_ he was supposed to be flying. He diverted from his course and set down on the nearest possible landing site. He was shaking.

His comm link chimed and he batted at it distractedly to activate. "Yeah, I'm here. What is it?"

" _Korkie?_ " Fenn Rau's voice spoke out of the unit, worriedly. " _Why did you break formation? Did you see something?_ "

"I saw…" Korkie attempted to swallow but his throat was dry. "I saw… her."


	35. Grave Robbery

Back to Soniee and her mission on Dxun. This chapter draws heavily on another character's visit to the demon moon from the book Darth Bane: The Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn. The descriptions of the inside of the tomb and its inhabitants have their origins there.

* * *

"We aren't the first to come here." She stated the obvious as she and Uncle Naidon crossed the threshold into the ancient, twisted pyramid.

"No," he agreed, watching her closely. "This sacred vestibule had been breached long before the Dark Lord Bane entered here a thousand years ago."

Soniee didn't know anything about that and she wasn't really listening to him. The darkness of the place… it was like drowning. It was an effort to keep her head above water. But then it was also comforting in a way, a current that would carry her along, if she'd just stop fighting and go with the flow.

She had felt this before. The first time was in that hanger in Sundari when Korkie was hurt and Amos was… dead. The darkness swirled around her then and she had given in to it. She had felt it again in the cockpit of the Kom'rk speeding away from Mandalore but Kenobi had been there. He had taught her to meditate and drive it back. She felt the darkness most keenly on Coruscant, when it tempted her with Lux.

But it wasn't just around her. The darkness was in her too, it was part of her. When she had reached out to smother Almec and then Gar Saxon, that had been her own desire for revenge, not something working on her from the outside. But she had stopped. She hadn't given into it fully.

She told herself it wasn't the same thing with those stormtroopers in the alley with Saw. That had been self-defense and defending her friend. She hadn't murdered those men out of hatred.

Soniee swallowed and blinked. There was almost no change when she closed her eyes or opened them. She heard the sound of a glow rod being ignited behind her, but there still wasn't much to see.

She had nearly forgotten he was there but wasn't comforted at the idea of not being alone. Having him walking behind her was unnerving. She ventured at small talk just to break the silence. "You brought my father here when he was a child. I can see why he would still have an aversion to caves and tunnels."

Her great uncle was watching her closely and the nearer they got to their goal the more maddened he seemed to become. " _They_ never would have let me bring him here... had to be disposed of…"

She thought she knew but she asked anyway, "Who had to be disposed of?"

"My brother and his wife of course." Naidon Kira continued to follow her never attempting to lead. He must have come here before. Not just with her father but on his own, trying to learn the secrets that Freedon Nadd had left behind.

The voice in her head was curiously quiet just now. He also seemed intent to watch and see if she would be able to find her way on her own. Soniee didn't need either of their direction. She made her way through the labyrinth of dark tunnels confidently toward the beacon of… whatever it was.

Still, Naidon's words caused her to slow her steps. "My grandparents died of the dalgos flu. My father came here with you to flee the epidemic." Shara had told her the story. Aunt Shara's mother had died as well, and there were mentions of it in Melaana's journal.

Naidon laughed. "My brother was immune to the contagion. That was why he and my sister-in-law were able to rush into that house to try to care for the afflicted. But they couldn't just leave the quarantine of that hovel and risk spreading the disease to the rest of the community. The counsel understood why it had to be burned to the ground."

She stopped in her tracks. "Y-you killed them to get to my father. You would have killed my mother and father to get to me."

"I didn't have to though, did I. All I had to do was be patient and wait for you to come to me." He was staring at her hungrily and she thought for a moment it was because of the necklace.

The red stones were glowing allowing her to see clearly the small chamber that they had entered. She felt that this had something to do with their proximity to something else. There was something else that they were calling to and she could hear the response of that thing, just as she had been able to hear the song of her kyber crystal in the cave on Concord Dawn.

Her Great Uncle began to grow impatient. He held up the glow rod and squinted into the corners of the chamber muttering to himself, "So she's found her way here, now what will she do?" He didn't seem to notice the brilliant emittance from her necklace.

Soniee closed her eyes she didn't even need the light to see. She made a quarter turn to the left and stepped forward with her hand extended. She touched a smooth stone slab that protruded slightly from the wall and opened her eyes to see the meter high block that must have been the barrier to the other side.

"Yes! Yes!" Naidon exclaimed excitedly but she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.

She looked at the ground and saw where her footsteps had disturbed the dust there were marks scratched in the ancient stone. The block had been moved before but it was massive! She knew that the Force could do such things. Whoever had moved it before must have been very powerful. Perhaps he or she had already removed whatever had been hidden there.

 _He didn't take everything_. The voice echoed in her mind after the long silent trek through the tunnels. _He didn't know about your legacy_.

"My…" she said aloud and touched the red stones at her throat. "What if I'm not strong enough?"

"Bane was a trespasser here," Great Uncle Naidon snapped. "You are the Child of the prophecy!"

"Am I?" she whispered.

Grandfather whispered back, _Come, Child._

With a deep breath, Soniee closed her eyes again and ignored the gleeful cry from the old man standing behind her. She laid her hand on the slab of rock and as the door of the chamber had risen before her in the tunnels under Iziz, this too slid easily from its place at her urging.

Well, not that easily. Once she had drawn the obstacle back far enough to expose the opening, Soniee had to stand a moment and catch her breath.

There was silence for a moment and then a wet slurping and a sort of clattering sound coming from within. Soniee bent down to look and saw the soft red glow that mirrored the stones at her throat. She sensed it, too, almost as if these crystals were communicating with their long lost brothers.

Though she was sure Great Uncle Naidon could neither hear nor see the object he desired, he certainly knew it must be there. He pushed past her, glow rod thrust before him as he entered the chamber that had so long been denied to him.

She watched from the opening as he rounded a short pedestal. Whatever object had once sat atop it had long since been taken away. But what hadn't been touched was the dagger. It must have been fastened to the far side of the pedestal and Naidon lifted it and held it aloft gazing at his prize in the light of the glow rod.

There was a thump as a dark, flat, oval shape fell from above. It scuttled towards Naidon Kira leaving a glistening trail of slime in its wake and then sort of leaped and attached itself to the old man's leg. Whatever it did then must have been excruciating. He dropped the glow rod and smacked at and then attempted to pry the thing away from where it had latched on to his leg.

Another of the strange crustaceans fell from the ceiling while he was bent over trying to dislodge the first and this one attached itself to his back. Naidon arched and screamed.

Soniee could only stare transfixed as the sound of the creatures and her great uncle's cries rose in volume. Another fell and attacked him and another till she couldn't see him any longer behind the chitinous swarm. She did however see the dagger fall to the ground as Naidon thrashed trying desperately to ward off the agony of the attack.

 _Don't be afraid_ , a calm voice said in her mind, _They won't hurt you_. And she knew somehow that they wouldn't.

She ducked through the opening into the chamber and looked around at the circular, high-ceilinged space. It was about five meters in diameter with the stone pedestal standing in the very center. The creatures didn't pay her any mind, intent on their prey. She bent and picked up the dagger unaccosted.

The screams of the old man didn't phase her as she sunk to the ground cross-legged as if she were meditating. Then the visions began to pour over her in waves.

At first the images that passed before her mind's eye were incomprehensible. Gradually, it became clearer that she was seeing the history of the crystals themselves. She saw the cave where they grew and then were discovered and harvested. Next there was the agony of the experimentation that led to their bleeding. But that didn't to compare to their sadness at being parted.

The Nadd Stones thought to be the most powerful, were fixed into the hilt of the dagger, with those left over being held in reserve for another purpose. They were eventually given away and placed into the delicate setting of a beautiful necklace, handed down generation after generation. The dagger served a darker purpose but it always hoped that it would be reunited with its sister stones.

Soniee realized with wonder that she was the sole witness to a reunion five thousand years in the making. Of course it was going to take them a while to catch up, and Soniee was getting an amazing summation of everything that the stones had observed in their incredible lifetime.

She had been so enthralled in their story that she had no idea how long she had been sitting there listening when one of the strange crustaceans, orbalisks they were called, nudged her foot to get her attention. Soniee opened her eyes and reached out to stroke its shell. It kind of shuddered with pleasure before it scuttled off to join the others.

She had actually learned quite a bit about them from the story of the stones that had been shut up here with them for several millennia. The Orbalisks fed off dark side energy and their shells were harder than any iron, hard enough to deflect a lightsaber blade.

Soniee looked down at the dagger in her hands. It had the same bronzed, red-gold gleam as the orbalisks. It was crafted, she realized, from one of the creatures' shells. She frowned and when she glanced up again she saw that she was surrounded.

None of them moved forward to attack. Perhaps they were still full from their previous meal. Soniee sensed only curiosity and uncertainty about the future. They wanted her to tell them what to do.

"You're free," she said simply, and after a moment's pause the entire swarm scuttled their way towards the opening like a moving carpet across the floor and along the walls.

 _If I didn't know any better, I'd think you liked those things. You must get that from the Kira side of the family_. Grandfather's disgusted voice spoke in her mind.

"You shouldn't have tried to control them with the dark side of the Force." She answered with a sigh. "First bleeding the crystals and then these poor Orbalisks. If we weren't related I really wouldn't like you very much."

She could sense his petulant shrug. _We were related to that Naidon character. I didn't like him at all._

Soniee's gaze went to the spot where her great uncle had found the reward for all his years of searching. "Well he's... gone now."

Freedon Nadd grew more serious. _He won't be the last to try to use you to get to me. Especially now that you have that._

"I know." She felt the weight of the dagger in her hands. "I can sense it, too."

As she made her way out of the chamber and through the corridors of the tomb, it felt much more empty. She carried the presence of Freedon Nadd out with her. She supposed she could have called him out into a more physical manifestation, but that was exactly what she was trying to put an end to, wasn't it?

 _You know what you have to do?_ Grandfather asked as if he was reading her mind. Maybe he was.

"I think so. I feel like it will become more obvious as the time grows closer."

She knew it involved taking the dagger down into the chamber, but after that… Again she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she barely noticed that she had left the pyramid and was now in the open air of the Dxun night.

She should have been paying more attention. She remembered the feline that had attacked she and Naidon on their way towards the tomb. She needn't have worried. Lining either side of the path, Soniee had an honor guard of orbalisks leading her all the way back to her ship.


	36. Freak Storm

This is another one of those scenes that I've had in my mind for a long time, probably since season 2 of Rebels. Always knew i wanted to explore Kallus vs. the Partisans and now that Soniee is back from her little trip to Dxun she can be involved as I always imagined she would be.

* * *

It had been a week since he had seen her, heard her voice, and what had she told him? "Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

This probably counted as stupid. Saw and Zal and a few others, those who were left, were pinned down in the morass that had once been the eastern jungles. At least he had remembered what Steela had always said about drawing the fight away from the civilians in the city. Like they even deserved it. Most of them had welcomed the Empire with open arms.

He was glad Sanya wasn't here to see this, as the rain pelted down on them. The rain had been their one saving grace. Those shiny new walkers were sunk to their knees in the mud. That would teach them for burning out the ground cover that had held the topsoil in place during the Clone Wars. But they were still coming.

Saw didn't know how long it would be till the Empire called in air support. Then it would all be over.

He wished he could have seen her one more time. He should have kissed her goodbye when he had the chance.

"Thinking about her, aren't you?" the Lasat's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"That obvious?"

"Nah," Zal shook some of the water from the soaking fur on his head. "I was just thinkin' about Chi'ann. Hoped I wasn't the only one."

Saw frowned. "Sorry about getting you mixed up in all this. Two of you might have been really happy together."

"Doin' it for them, aren't we? Trying to make the galaxy a better place, I mean?"

"Maybe you're right." Is that why Saw was doing this? He looked up, blinking in the torrent.

There was a break in the clouds, a ship. Well, that was it. They had taken care to keep out of the line of fire of Agent Kallus's troopers on the ground but the last of the Partizans would be mowed down easily from above.

But it wasn't an Imperial fighter, just a little freighter, a B-7 model. She was back!

One of his own men down the line raised his blaster rifle at the craft. Not that he could have done much damage. Looked like the ship had already taken a beating. Maybe that's why it took her so long to get back.

Saw waved at the soldier to stand down.

 _Osik_! Panic suddenly seized him. If they weren't shooting at her than what were the Imps likely to think? The friend of my friend is my…

Sure enough a rocket powered plasma grenade shot up towards the freighter, coming from a much closer position than the last time Saw had peeked out from his hiding place.

"Fly away, Nya!" He willed her or maybe he said it aloud. Though she veered away from the projectile, it was obvious she was coming in for a landing. "No!"

He was standing now, a fact which he realized at the same moment as the Imperial troops. After that he didn't have time to think about the ship or the girl flying it. The battle had been rejoined and it was going to be a fight to the finish. It didn't matter as long has he could keep the attention on himself for a little while. Maybe she could get away before they turned their blasters again in her direction.

"Kriff this storm!" Saw swiped rain out of his eyes between blaster shots. Thunder rolled some distance away and then there was a flash of lightning much nearer.

Only it wasn't like any lightning Saw had ever seen before. The crackling blue electricity wasn't coming down from the clouds. It was wreathed around a figure standing on the hilltop a few meters away. The battle forgotten, he couldn't take his eyes from her.

Sanya Kira, child of the prophecy, had come home to Onderon.

She had a short dark blade in her right hand and this she pointed towards the Imperial soldiers along with her empty left hand, fingers spread. She seemed frozen there for an endless moment and then arks of blue lightning streamed from both her hands, engulfing the white plastoid armored troopers.

Saw heard their screams, he watched as they tore at the plating, as they were cooked alive inside. They crumpled to the soggy ground in charred and smoking heaps. Others were thrown back, dead or dying. The wouldn't be putting up any more of a fight today if ever again.

Sanya's arms slumped to her sides and she surveyed the field. She located Saw and their eyes locked. Then she was running towards him.

They crashed together and immediately both began speaking at once, "When we hadn't seen you in so long…" "When I saw that battle…" "I thought you were…" "And now… You're alive!"

He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. At first she leaned into the kiss just relieved to feel his arms around her again but then she pushed him away.

"What was that for?"

"I told you I'd kiss you when you got back. Don't you remember?" he drew her close to him again and in her drained weakness she let him. "What happened to you up there? A week! We'd nearly lost hope!"

"A week? No," she protested. It couldn't have been that long.

"I didn't understand but I can see now, why you had to go? You had to come into your full power. Gods, Sanya, you're amazing!"

He kissed her but she pushed him away again "Saw, I-I can't do this. I…"

"Shh… You've just been through a battle. It'll be alright. We'll figure it out. We don't have to talk about it now."

"Th-the…" she rubbed her head. "The survivors."

"Zal's taking care of them." Saw assured her. "No one will take stories of what you did back to the Empire."

"He's what?!"

…

When Agent Alexsandr Kallus came to, a sharp ringing in his ears was all he could hear. He tried to remember what had happened. They had been so close to winning the battle even despite the rain.

 _He had studied the records of the past fighting in this area. The walkers he had requisitioned should have quickly brought the Partisans to their knees, especially with the jungle removed from their path. He hadn't counted on the autumn storms transforming the terrain into a swamp._

 _Even so Kallus and his men closed in on the insurgents. His enemies were pinned down and if he could only flush them out of hiding he could finish this and report his victory back to his superiors on Coruscant. Flush them out of hiding or… if only they had a few of those tie fighters that were exhibited at the Empire Day festivities. Maybe they hadn't left the space port yet._

 _He reached for his comm unit and punched in the frequency for headquarters._ Damn this storm! _He couldn't get the connection._

 _"Sir, there's a ship," one of the troopers informed him._

 _Kallus glanced up. "Is it ours?"_

 _"No, sir, looks like a civvy freighter."_

 _Now he desperately wanted those ties. "Shoot it down! They might have called in support!" He tried to focus on making the comm connection leaving the soldiers to their jobs._

 _"The rebels! They've broken cover!" The trooper shouted again._

 _This got Kallus's full attention. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go! Go! Let's finish this!" He wasn't sure if the trooper heard him over the fresh peal of distant thunder._

 _There was a bright light. Were they charging some sort of energy weapon? How did these rebels get a hold of something like that?_

That was Sandr's last thought before he was thrown by the power of some terrific blast and smacked the back of his head on a rock.

He sat up now and pulled off his helmet, hoping that would rectify his hearing, but it was still just the ringing. The helmet had a deep dent in the back. It had saved his life. He tossed it aside and tried to focus on making sense of his surroundings.

He felt more than heard the pulse as a weapon was discharged a couple of meters to his left. When he turned that direction he saw the purple furred monster lower his bow-rifle from the point blank shot and the storm trooper slump in death.

Kallus watched in horror as the Lasat moved on to the next trooper, checked to see if that one was still breathing, and then made sure he never would again. He must have cried out in protest because then the murderer turned to look at him.

Their eyes met and Sandr shrank back from the advance of his foe. He felt around him on the ground for a weapon of his own but before he could lay a hand on it the Lasat kicked the blaster out of the way.

He said something that Kallus couldn't make out and then raised the bow-rifle for the killing shot.

Sandr closed his eyes and waited but the blast didn't come. He opened his eyes again and saw that the Lasat seemed to be looking back over his shoulder to where someone was speaking to him.

This could be his chance. He could get away while the beast was distracted. He could make a lunge for his own blaster and fight back. He could… endure helplessly as the Lasat turned back to him with a frown of disappointment and knocked Sandr out cold with the butt of his bow-rifle.

…

Sanya dropped to the ground beside the unconscious agent and began to check his lifesigns as best as she knew how. She lifted his head carefully feeling first the bump on the back of his skull and then gently touching the bruise that Zal had just added on his temple. There was a trickle of blood from the wound but he seemed to be breathing normally.

"We can't just let him live." Saw paced agitatedly behind her. "What if he tells the Empire what he saw?"

"Did you even ask if he saw anything?" She directed the question at to Zal but the Lasat backed off dreading the thought of her wrath being turned toward him.

"It was a battle!" Saw answered with a growl. "He's the enemy, in case you've forgotten! He would have killed any of us if he got the chance!"

"And if he dies the Empire will send even more troops against you!" she shot back at him, but the worry was evident in her tone. She gently laid the injured man's head back on the ground and stood.

"And if he tells the Empire there's a Force user on Onderon?" Saw took her by the shoulders. "They'll tear the place apart looking for you!"

She spoke with full confidence. "He won't." Then she dropped her gaze. "He won't remember it that way."

 _Osik!_ Saw thought. _She was gonna mess with his mind. She has the power to do it!_

Sanya turned away from Saw. Was she ashamed by what she was about to do?

"Zal could you carry him to my ship? Be careful with him!" She admonished as the big lasat bent obediently to follow her instructions.

…

When he woke again Kallus was able to hear voices speaking softly over him, medical workers strapping him to a gurney. "Where… How did I get… The Lasat… my men!"

A familiar face swam into his vision. "You're in my ship. You need to be still. You're hurt. I brought you back to the city."

"Dara?" He thought he'd never see her again. _But wait_ … he panicked. "Your ship?" He'd given orders to fire on a civilian freighter! "Were you there during the battle?"

She shook her head. "Can you tell me what you remember?"

He didn't particularly want to tell her about how he had been attempting to track down and kill her… _friend_. But he had to tell someone, "They have some sort of weapon." He squeezed her hand. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before! But you're okay! Y-you flew me back here? How?"

"Sandr, there was no weapon." She explained softly but deliberately. "It was the storm. The lightning was attracted to troopers uniforms. It must have blown you back and you hit your head."

"No weapon…? The lightning…" He shook his head, confused. "No no. The Lasat, Gerrera's accomplice, he was shooting my men with that bow-rifle. He left me alive."

"I flew over after it happened. Your enemies had run away. There was scorching on your men's armor but… it was the lightning."

The medical workers told her they were ready to take him.

Kallus didn't want to let go of her hand. "At least you're okay, Dara. And now you see why I didn't want you to get mixed up with Gerrera! He's dangerous! You should leave this place! Get away from him!"

"Maybe it is about time for me to move on." She squeezed his hand one last time and nodded for them to take him away.

* * *

Lux's Sister, with whom i co-wrote the story "Polaris", and I have been working hard on the sequel for that story, which will also continue the events of this one when it's finished. We have also taken a little detour and started to compile the high seas adventures of Soniee's namesake Sanya Harkon. Melaana's childhood heroine who sailed the waterways of Onderon 1000 years before the Clone Wars, battled pirates, befriended Kiras and Blackwells and made a name for herself that has lived on in legend ever since. So, drop us a line! Would you like to see that story posted? And what are your thoughts on Soniee's adventures up to this point? You know I love the comments! Let's have a chat. I'll put the shig on to boil.


	37. Par Cyare Buir

The battle is over but Soniee doesn't have long to decide what to do before the next challenge comes. A little support and good advice would be nice about now. and PLEEEEEASE comment! pretty please.

* * *

She had killed a dozen men and injured half that many to the point that Zal was forced to… put them out of their misery. She had felt the life go out of them, felt their fear and their pain. Worse yet she had drawn power from their suffering. Thankfully she had snapped herself out of that almost drunken state before the Lasat had finished off Kallus.

She hated to think what the consequences might have been if every single imperial had been disposed of in the battle. Onderon would be swarming with troopers as soon as they could be dispatched. As it was the Iziz garrison would need to be replenished but at least if the Agent took the story back to his superiors that she had planted into his mind, they'd come believing that before the storm they had beaten all the fight out of the Onderonian rebels.

Though it had been no great effort to alter his memory of the event, the reality of it, the fact that she had manipulated the man's mind; it made her sick to her stomach.

And she had done it all for Saw Gerrera. She hadn't known why she deviated from her flight plan to the Iziz space dock. Making a pass over the wilderness on her way had just seemed like the thing to do. When she broke through the clouds and saw her friend hard pressed by his enemies there was nothing else she could have done.

Her connection to Saw wasn't quite like her link with Korkie but it was amplified by the necklace and the dagger. Soniee nearly broke the clasp again in her effort to remove the piece of jewelry and stow both objects in the body of her powered down droid for safe keeping. She needed to get away from them just for a while to clear her mind.

Had she really been away from the planet for an entire week? It felt like so much had changed. Saw still wanted her. That much hadn't changed.

Soniee left her ship and began to wander the streets of Iziz. The rain was finally tapering off but she didn't even feel it.

She was remembering her time on Coruscant. Back then a boy had been sent to the med center just for crossing her path. Another professed his love for her and asked her to stay with him. And then there was Korkie. She didn't know where he was or if he had gotten her message or if he still wanted to be married to her.

Back then she had longed for a friend or a parent to talk to. Lagos had commed her just at the right time and then Momma… But Momma Ordo was gone.

The closest thing Soniee had to a mother here on Onderon was probably Shara. Shara was her aunt, sort of. She had been close to Soniee's own mother. And Shara was wonderful with her own children.

Maybe that's what directed Soniee's path toward the old Gerrera house. She hadn't really intended on going there but she found herself standing in the street before it. There wasn't anyone staying there now and Soniee had always felt comfortable there when she had gone for her language lessons. Surely it wouldn't hurt to stop inside and get out of the rain for a bit.

There was a layer of dust on everything but it was nothing like the coating of cognine fur that the place had gotten when the Blackwell kids decided to give their pet a haircut. Soniee smiled at the memory. She wondered what sort of trouble she and her Onderonian friends might have gotten up to if she had grown up here, maybe even in this house.

And then she sensed it. She wasn't alone. "Hello?" she said quietly as she rounded the doorway into the living room.

His green eyes were wide with panic like a cornered animal and it looked like he might bolt at any second, but then he saw it was her. "Sanya."

They stared at each other for several standard minutes before the dam broke. She ran to him, wrapped her arms around him, and cried in Onderonian, " _Papa_."

At first Bremon just stood there petting her hair as he might the mane of a skittish dalgo colt. Until instinct kicked in and he pulled her closer. "My girl. My baby girl."

They stood there, father holding his daughter for an indeterminable time. Then he pushed her out to arm's length surveying her for damage.

"There was a battle. Saw was involved. Frayl and I flew over after it was finished. Were you there? Were you hurt?"

"Frayl's alive?" She asked in amazement before she thought to address his concern. "Yes, I'm fine. But it was me. I killed all those soldiers. Saw was in danger. I did it to protect Saw."

Her father nodded, trying to take in the information. He grasped onto what he could understand. "You love him? Saw?"

"I love Saw very much." She took a few steps away from him and wrung her hands. "but nobody can make Saw to anything. I doubt very much if we would be able to make each other happy for very long. Once the initial fire burns out... Saw needs a battle to fight and while I... like fighting beside him, I don't want to fight forever. I think, even if we were victorious over all of our enemies, we would probably start fighting each other."

He placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder. "You're a good judge of character. Like your mother."

"She liked the idea of Saw and I ending up together." Soniee smiled up at him. "She said so in her journal."

"That was a daydream. She... we," he corrected himself, "would never have forced you into a betrothal. You've read how that worked out for she and Lux Bonteri's father?"

The marriage Soniee had arranged on her own hadn't turned out much better but she agreed, "Lux and I are friends. I guess that would have been a great match too. Him being the heir to the throne."

Bremon's brow furrowed. "He's not."

"He's not what?" she asked.

"Lux Bonteri is not the heir to the throne of Onderon."

"But he's Dendup's closest relative. Isn't that right? He told me…" Lux had been trying to tell her something at the ball. Something about Dendup's cousin.

"You know the story of our ancestors Oron and Galia?" He began. She would have liked to hear him sing the ballad that Shara had sung to her months ago but she didn't interrupt. "She was the princess and upon the death of her parents she and Oron Kira became the uncontested king and queen of Onderon."

Soniee thought about this and swallowed hard. She tried to smile again but tears came to her eyes. "Sounds like Korkie wasn't such a bad match either. He was the heir to Mandalore." She admitted to her father. "His mother was the duchess."

"You kept his identity a secret to protect him?"

She nodded with a sob.

"And he is doing the same, pretending that you have died, to protect you."

"Yes." Soniee gulped and threw her arms around him. "Just like when you sent away mother and I."

There was a hitch in his voice as well when he whispered into her hair. "The biggest regret of my life is that I didn't go with her. We should have stayed together, no matter what."

Soniee tensed as if she had heard a sound and stepped back, drying her eyes and her cheeks. "I wish you could have met him, Korkie I mean. He's so kind, so brave."

"You still love him." It wasn't a question. He could see the truth of it in her determined green gaze that was almost like looking into a mirror.

With a deep breath, she collected herself. "The only question is what to tell Saw."

At that moment there was a knock at the outer door and the creek as it was swung open. "Hey is anybody here?" Saw's voice called out.

She had sensed his coming. "We're in here."

"We?" The young man came round the corner with a confused smile on his face. "Ah Uncle Brem." He had no doubt be hoping to find Soniee alone.

" _Papa…_ " she began, turning to her father.

"It's alright, Baby Girl. I'll let you be." He kissed her forehead. "You do what your heart tells you." Bremon whispered.

"Thank you, _Papa_." She watched him squeeze Saw's shoulder as he made his way out of the house.

Saw looked back and forth between them. "You two good now?"

"Elek."

"Good." He crossed the room and leaned in to kiss her.

She allowed the briefest touch before she turned her head. "Saw, we need to talk."

"We do." He agreed and jumped right in. "What happened today, the Empire, we're rid of them for the time being, but they'll be back."

"Yes…"

"I've been thinking." He started to pace. "I'd like more than anything to stay here, to defend Onderon, make it safe for our people." He raised his eyebrows in question and she nodded for him to continue.

"Thing is, it's me the Empire wants, and… people like you."

She couldn't argue with that.

"I'm leaving Onderon. I don't know for how long." It must have been killing him to say it.

He was looking for her approval, her assurance that he was doing the right thing, but before she could speak up he continued. "I want you to come with me."

"Saw, I…"

"I know what you're thinking." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "What would we do? Where would we go?"

"Well, I…"

"I've made some contacts, people who don't like the Empire any more than we do. We'll start off small just causing some annoyance, disrupting supplies for their war machine, helping out planets that have been hurt by their tyranny." He appealed to her caring nature. "I think we can really make a difference… together."

This time he paused, waiting to hear her response but now that it came to it, the only thing she could think to say was, "Together?"

"We can get married, if you want." He said softly. She was sure this is what he had been working up to the whole time. "I'm sure your father will stand up as our witness. We can say the words before we leave the planet and then the whole Galaxy is ours for the taking."

"Saw, you know I'm already…"

"He said you were dead to him. No one here would contest that your marriage to him never happened. What do you say, Nya? Please. Marry me. We'll make a brand new start."

"Saw…" she started again. She should turn him down flat, not give him any reason to hope. Why couldn't she do it?

"You don't have to give me an answer about that right away." He conceded. "But it won't take long for the Empire to muster another force to make up for their losses here. We need to get scarce, at least for a while."

"Y-you're right." she managed. "I have some business I need to finish here first."

The muscles in his jaw tightened. "This is about Dxun, isn't it? About what you found there?"

She didn't have to say anything. Her deep breath and the way she couldn't quite look him in the eye told him all he needed to know.

"Nya, I… know you can take care of yourself." Saw swallowed down his own pride. "You'll finish up what you've got to do." He took her chin in his hand gently and forced her to look up at him. "And when you're done with that we'll meet up. We'll set a place, somewhere far from here, and we'll go on together from there."

She inclined her head just slightly in a nod and then his lips found hers once again.

"I love you," he breathed.

"I…" it was true even if it wasn't in exactly the same way. "I love you, too."

They could make a life together. Maybe only for a little while but how long were their lives likely to last once they'd set themselves against the whole Empire. She would continue to keep Korkie's identity a secret, her own existence would remain hidden and maybe she could pull the reins in on Saw and his thirst for vengeance.

Their kiss lingered and then she looked into his blue eyes and gave him a brave smile. "As soon as I'm done, I'll come and meet you."

"Don't be too long." He said, almost pleading. "Sometimes I think… you're the only one who really understands."

* * *

Heard this song on the radio the other day and it reminded me of Saw. still a little disappointed that he didn't have blue eyes in Rebels or Rogue One. No one knows what it's like  
To be the bad man, to be the sad man  
Behind blue eyes  
And no one knows what it's like  
To be hated, to be fated to telling only lies  
But my dreams they aren't as empty as my conscience seems to be  
I have hours, only lonely  
My love is vengeance that's never free  
No one knows what it's like  
To feel these feelings Like I do, and I blame you!  
No one bites back as hard On their anger  
None of my pain woe can show through  
No one knows what it's like  
To be mistreated, to be defeated  
Behind blue eyes  
No one knows how to say, that they're sorry and don't worry  
I'm not telling lies


	38. Werda's got mail

So she has decided to leave Onderon with Saw, but what if Onderon still needs her...

* * *

It is often the practice, the privilege even, of the elderly after a long life of collecting trinkets and mementos to bestow various of these items on the members of their progeny whom they deem as the most deserving before they pass on to their rest. Such was certainly the case with one Lady Emma Flint, known to family and friends alike as Grandmother.

Grandmother Flint's most prized possessions however were not antique porcelain or crystal dishes. Nor were they intricate embroidery done by her own hand. No, Grandmother's life work compiled something altogether more precious.

Her choice of beneficiary was also a surprise. She could have chosen to leave the lot to her favorite great granddaughter, but Lady Dalla Blackwell daughter of Lana Flint Blackwell was inheriting enough trouble from her Lord father. She might have passed on her passion to Shara Rupingwood Blackwell who was herself descended from southern Flints and had married into the north and devoted herself to the northern traditions two decades back. But as much as Emma enjoyed her time spent conversing with the former beast rider about raising children and animals and the plants in her greenhouse, Shara was still too busy making memories to be burdened with keeping them.

No one knew why Grandmother, in her final days, bundled up all of her datapads and flimsy chronicles and infocubes and sent them south to Iziz. Perhaps it was only the uniqueness of the name of the recipient.

…

"Werda!" Her mother had stubbed her toe on the immense crate that had been landed on the porch of their too small house not far from Malgan market.

She didn't need to call again. Even though Werda Flint no longer claimed the place as her home, preferring the ladies' dorm to the noise and chaos of her family's domicile, the shadow girl always seemed to be aware of everything that went on above and below the streets of Iziz. She appeared at her mother's elbow and gave the woman a placating kiss on the cheek. "Yes, Momma?"

It worked. Cresha Flint smiled indulgently at her daughter and gestured with her dishtowel at the delivery, "What is all this?"

"I don't know." Werda bent to squint at the packing label. "It's from Grandmother."

"Aww that poor, sweet woman." Cresha shook her head. She had never met the matriarch but Grandmother's legend was larger than the North Sea and likely to enlarge in the retelling. "I meant to send my condolences to our kin up north. You knew Lana's girl during the war, didn't you? Well, when you send up a thank you comm for your gift, whatever it is, please tell them they have our deepest sympathies for her passing."

"I'll do that, Momma." Werda promised, though she was sure no one up north expected such a thing and she was certain that whatever this box contained it wasn't that sort of gift.

She couldn't quite believe what she had in front of her when Werda finally had the crate brought to a quiet place where she could delve into it. It only took her a moment to do just that, diving head first into the meticulously recorded history of not just the Flint clan or just the peoples of the northern sea region. The information she had been given seemed to cover the social history of the entire planet of Onderon.

Curiosity sent her first to her own recent family line: _Werda Flint middle child of twelve born to Wyman and Cresha Flint. Cresha was a survivor of the Dalgos Flu and was taken in by the Flints after her own family died._

That much Werda already knew. Everyone from her parents' generation lost family and friends in the Flu epidemic. She went on to read more about them.

 _Wyman was one of 14 children fathered by Klint Flint. His mother died in childbirth with the youngest. And after that,_ it said here _, there were betrothal negotiations. Klint was supposed to remarry a girl named Hadassa Cornel. Beneath her name there was a spot left open. She was pregnant at the time of the negotiations but Klint wasn't the father. He was planning on adopting the child._

There was a footnote to another page. _Hadassa Cornel broke the negotiations with the Flint family and married the father of her child, Kason Rupingwood. Their daughter was… Shara Rupingwood_ _Rash_ _Blackwell_.

"Osik! She really could have been my aunt!"

But then if it was important enough to mention that Hadassa's child wasn't blood related to the Flints and that their betrothal had been broken, wouldn't there be something in the records about Dane Bonteri's attempted alliance with the Rash heiress?

And there it was: _Dane Bonteri was betrothed to Melaana Rash but a couple of months later he was married to Mina Skelari. Their only son Lux was born six and a half months after the wedding._

 _Melaana Rash was married to… Lord Bremon Kira. There was a spot left open beneath her name as well. She was expecting a child, a Kira child. But the child's name was never listed. The official records stated that Melaana died nine months after their wedding in a freighter crash on the planet Concord Dawn._

But that meant that Dara's father wasn't Dane Bonteri. She was a Kira! She was the princess of Onderon!

Werda decided next to refresh her memory on the succession to the throne of Onderon and why the Kiras stopped being royal. So she went back through the Kira line and found out that a little over a thousand years ago a Kira Heir was supposed to marry a Blackwell to unite the north and south and end the feud between the houses.

She remembered a snatch of song about the king waiting for his bride, ready to present her with a tame dalgo, a bride who never came. The king's name was Modon Kira and his bride was… Dina Blackwell. Werda searched for more information about the event. She discovered that Modon, after coming upon the bridal barge that washed up at the port of Iziz with all souls aboard murdered by the Shechel Clan, couldn't stand the idea of staying on the throne. He just wanted to go back to the jungle. He left the care of the planet to his friend and advisor Horus Dendup.

The Dendup and Skelari families had been Wardens of the throne ever since, just keeping the seat warm until the rightful Kira heir came back to reclaim it. That heir was Dara Rash… no Kira! And the journal said her mother had wanted to name her Sanya. Sanya Kira was the heir to the throne and if she was unable or unwilling the wardenship fell to the last member of the Skelari family, the grandson of Ramsis Dendup's cousin… Lux Bonteri! They weren't siblings at all but they were connected in all of this.

Werda shut the book. If this was true, then she couldn't just sit on it. She had to tell someone who had the power to set things right. Someone who could and would install the rightful ruler. Well, that boiled down to exactly one person.

…

In the comm room of the royal palace King Dendup was just shoring up some business with the Lord of the North.

"When should we expect the next shipment? Within the next week?"

Lord Marlon Blackwell gave him a nod. _"It left the harbor this morning."_

Thank the gods. Dendup didn't know what he'd do without the food imports from the north. After the Empire burned down the jungles and the fields along with them the north was near single-handedly feeding the planet. Thanks to the good fishing season bellies stayed full, his rule remained popular, and the Blackwell coffers swelled tremendously.

"It's a pleasure as always, Lord Blackwell."

Marlon allowed one of his small smiles. Dendup would have smiled too if he'd secured this massive a payday. _"The pleasure's all mine, your highness."_

Dendup changed the subject. "How is your daughter? I haven't heard from her since the ball. She was a great help here in Iziz."

 _"Dalla's at sea, doing quite well. From what she's told me I wish I should have joined my family in Iziz. You surely know how to throw a party."_

"I always make the most of celebrations. Know your presence and that of your family is always welcome in Iziz. I may be old, but I can summon some energy for old allies and friends."

 _"I don't doubt it. I'll keep the invitation in mind, your Highness. Maybe someday we'll have the chance to enjoy it."_ He laughed humorlessly.

Dendup did too. "I'll let you know when the shipments arrive. Good day, Lord Blackwell."

Well that went … alright. He certainly wasn't complaining about the food or Marlon's continued cooperation. He'd need them both while the fields still baked under ashes, and while House Blackwell became the richest and most powerful family on Onderon. They were nothing to sneeze at before (as his predecessor had fatally learned) but now, well, the amount which the crown handed over with every shipment was nothing to sneeze at either.

That was why he'd decided to throw a ball instead of making a formal address naming Lux as his heir. He'd planned to use the occasion to encourage Lux into thinking differently about his best friend. Lux and Dalla were the same age, they worked together well, and a marriage alliance would unite the planet and make sure the people of Iziz were fed. That and Dendup could just imagine the babies who would arise from such a union, with Lux's dark hair and Dalla's sweet smile.

He hadn't expected them to attend with different escorts, and after the debacle of the poor girl in her serpent dress Dendup kissed any hopes of matchmaking for the evening goodbye.

He'd have to get creative and invent another occasion to bring them both to Iziz.

…

Soniee knew he didn't want to leave Onderon. Even stepping outside of the house into the now sunny street had been a struggle. Sawyer Gerrera had been remembering the adolescent dreams he had dreamed while he still lived under his parents' roof of bringing a pretty girl into his bed. He could have done it, wasted a few more hours in her passionate embrace before they had to be parted for who knew how long.

She had said that she loved him, that she would go with him when she had finished her task. Making that decision had eased her mind. She had a plan. That didn't make it any easier to convince him that 'doing something Rash' right now would delay those plans.

He had worked out passage off Onderon. The freighter pilot would want to keep to his own schedule. This could be the last time that Saw ever set foot on his beloved planet.

They took advantage of the relatively Imperial free streets and decided to forgo the tunnels or any kind of mechanical or beast transport. When would they ever have the chance again to simply walk through Iziz hand in hand?

He told her he would miss the rupings and dalgo more than he would miss most of the people. She shoved him playfully. He pointed out places from his childhood and from the Clone Wars. The memories, the emotions, they were nearly overwhelming both to Saw firsthand but also to Soniee emphatically through the Force.

"We'll come back someday," she told him but there was no way she could promise that.

"You're leaving?"

They both spun around to face the young woman with her arms full of datapads and notes scrawled on flimsy.

"Werda!"

She looked back and forth between them. She had caught them once before wrapped around each other. She hadn't imagined that would lead to their running away together. They couldn't leave now. Onderon needed them! "I never told anyone about what I saw down in the tunnels, about the two of you! You can't leave!"

"Really, Werda, it's for the best," Soniee attempted to explain without really explaining anything.

Saw sniffed trying to cover his emotions with bluster. "And I'd better get there before they leave without me."

"So just Saw is going?" Werda asked, taking in their linked hands and the looks they gave each other.

"For now." Soniee admitted. "I'll be joining him later."

He squeezed her hand tighter and swallowed hard. "Come on."

Soniee gave Werda a nod of farewell and then hurried her footsteps to keep up with his pace.

When they reached the space port Zal was already waiting for them with a boy Soniee had seen hanging around the tunnels with some of Saw's other acquaintances, some of the rougher bunch, some of those who hadn't come back from the fight with Kallus's troopers.

"I got your stuff," said the boy who couldn't have been any older than Shara's Emoth. He patted the handle of a hovercart that was piled with luggage.

Saw tossed him a credit. "Thanks, Reece. You did good."

"Hey! You made it!" Zal grinned his wolfish grin and called in at the freighter's hatchway, "Our third is here."

Soniee looked to Saw. "You went ahead and booked my passage too?"

He shrugged, "it was worth a try."

"You're not coming with us?" Zal asked her, his big purple shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Not yet." She conceded. "I've got some family business I need to take care of first."

"Ah! Gotta talk to the old man, make sure you've got his blessing before the two of you can…"

"Not exactly," said Soniee at the same time that Saw exclaimed, "something like that."

They all laughed.

The boy, Reece, piped right up, "Saw, if she's not goin', can I come?"

"Sure kid," Saw patted him on the back and he ran up the gangway calling to the captain that there were three passengers after all.

Soniee watched him go with a frown. "Saw, you can't. He's just a kid."

"His big sister died in the clone wars trying to save me and she was all he had. It's the least I can do to look after him." He turned to her and smiled disarmingly "'Sides, you'll be there in a few days to watch out for both of us."

She sighed and submitted to his kiss.

Zal chuckled uncomfortably, "I'll let you two have a minute."

Soniee stepped away from Saw and gave the Lasat a hug. "See you in a few days. Take care of him for me till I get there?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He saluted and then bounded up the gangway into the freighter leaving Saw and Soniee relatively alone in the busy spaceport.

"I know you can handle yourself." He spoke after a few moments silence.

She nodded. "Elek, I'm pretty sure I know what I need to do. It shouldn't take long. Then I want to make sure Papa will be alright and…"

"You gonna ask him about that blessing?" He took her hand in his.

"Saw I…" she began and then threw him a look of pure annoyance. "I thought it was traditional for the groom to ask the father for his daughter's hand?"

He laughed. "I think Uncle Brem knows my intentions." Slowly, he drew her close and kissed her tenderly. The kiss deepened so that she couldn't possibly mistake those intentions.

"Saw…" She breathed.

"I love you, Nya."

"It's only going to be a few days."

"A few days too long, in my opinion."

…

"Your Highness, there's a girl demanding to see you," a guard said ending Dendup's daydream of holding potential great-grandbabies. "She says she has critical, time-sensitive information."

He wished he hadn't heard that before. Usually his guards were good at sorting out the crazies. "Who is it?"

"She says her name is Werda Flint."

"Werda Flint? Red hair, thin as a rail?"

"That's the one." The guard looked confused at his description.

"Send her in." Werda Flint had helped the rebels escape from the execution through the tunnels. She wasn't crazy and she wasn't one to cry loth-wolf. If she said she needed to speak to him, she did.

To her credit Werda wasn't distracted by the splendor of the palace when the guards showed her in. Instead she zeroed in on him and blurted out "I found the rightful heir to the throne and she's getting away!"

"Say that again, young lady?" _Slower this time_ , he hoped.

Werda looked down at the book in her arms and then repeated herself, much slower. "I found the rightful heir to the throne. I found Sanya Kira."

Sanya Kira. He'd heard that name before, when Lux was explaining the ball debacle to him in private and they'd come up with the "Dara Rash-Bonteri" story. Hearing it from Werda was a completely different story. Someone had seen through the deception that kept Sanya Kira safe.

Luckily Werda sensed the need to explain. "Grandmother Flint sent me all her research." She held up the book as proof and sure enough Dendup recognized the late Flint matriarch's handwriting on the cover. "I was looking through it when I found the Kira line. Your Highness, she's the true heir! She really is the lost princess of Onderon. And with the Empire coming, she's just what Onderon needs. There can't be any excuse for them to put one of their own people on the throne."

He couldn't agree more. And if this Kira girl agreed to take the throne, then Lux would be relieved of the burden he desperately didn't want. At the very least, he needed to speak to her. Sanya Kira had the right to know who she really was. "Where is this young lady?"

"She's going to leave the planet with Saw Gerrera. We might be able to catch them if we hurry."

Panic seized him. "She's going where?"

…

Soniee pressed the her heels of her hands to her temples. The closer she got to the B-7 and the items she had stashed there that she was now going to retrieve, the more her head ached.

It would have been so simple to step aboard that freighter with Saw and leave all this behind. She was sure the more distance she put between herself and Onderon and her responsibilities the more the pressure would ease. But it would never truly go away. She had to face it.

The hold of her own ship was so familiar. It should have been comforting. The minds of a thousand million beings however swirled around her like the trackless blue of hyperspace.

She reached her droid LEP-1K0 and without activating the unit opened the hatch. Soniee didn't want to put the necklace on again. She lifted it from the secret compartment. There was no broken clasp to focus on the mechanics of the repair.

And there was the dagger lying beside it. So much pain and fear and sorrow had been wrought by these objects.

She wanted to slam the hatch closed at run. She forced her hands to wrap the piece of jewelry around her throat and…

Just as the blue streaks of lightspeed condense into the pinpricks of individual stars, so did Soniee's vision of the Force focus into laser sharp clarity. Along with this coherence came a single voice, _They're coming_.

"Who's coming?" but she didn't search in the void for her pursuers. Instead her mind went straight to the one consciousness she had always fought so hard to protect. He wasn't on Manda'yaim and he wasn't on Concord Dawn where she was sure she had last felt his presence when she was on Dxun. Korkie was on his way here!

"No!" She was up in action with the dagger in her hand before she gave it a second thought. It wasn't because she had just made the decision to let him go and move on with someone else. It wasn't that guilt that pressed her forward. She couldn't have him here. She couldn't put him in danger again, not with what she had to accomplish.

She had to go down to the chamber. She had to finish the work and be gone, off this planet before she could hurt him again.

"No!" she screamed again as she ran out of the B-7 and looked up into the sky at the unmistakable wing structure of a _Kom'rk_ coming in for a landing only a few docking bays away in the space port.

She hurried toward it and then slowed her pace. No, it wasn't Korkie, but it was plainly a Mandalorian ship. It was here for her.

 _They're coming_. The voice echoed in her mind again, Grandfather's voice.

It wasn't Korkie but the presence was familiar. It had been a long time since she'd felt it. She couldn't place it. She became aware of the dagger drawn menacingly in her hand and tucked it into the back of her belt. She would be ready but not overtly hostile.

The gangplank lowered and out stepped Prime Minister Almec.

"You," Soniee breathed in utter shock.

"Representative Ordo, it's so good to see you alive and well." He wasn't the commanding figure he had once been when she had first met him as a student at the Academy. Neither was he the quivering shell he had been in the presence of his Sith overlord Maul.

"How did you find me?"

"You must not have hidden your trail as well as you thought. Dara Rash, is it now?"

"What if it is?"

"A new name for a new era." He shrugged his aristocratic shoulders. "Not surprising."

"What's in a name?" she quoted the Bard, which earned her an eyebrow raise. "What do you want with me?"

"I simply do not wish a Royal Academy education to go to waste. Your position in the _Imperial_ senate has yet to be filled."

"Imperial Senate?" If that wasn't an oxymoron she didn't know what was.

"Times are changing and we must change with them." He took a few steps closer to her. "You have proved yourself malleable in all of the circumstances in which you have found yourself up till now. I am sure that you will bare up under this new regime."

"And what if I decide I don't want to resume my former occupation?" She took a step back not out of fear, more out of revulsion of everything this man stood for, or more like laid down and allowed to march over him.

"Then perhaps one of your fellow cadets would be up to the challenge."

He couldn't mean… She acted nonchalant. "You have the records of those sent home after the lockdown. Take your pick." She turned and started to walk away.

"I was more interested in those who weren't sent home with the rest."

She stopped.

"The three who stayed with you in Sundari?"

"Amis and I were the only cadets who chose not to go home. He died. I haven't kept up with any of the others." She lied.

Almec nodded. "Then it would surprise you to learn that your former roommate Lagos Jerec is alive and well."

"Is she?" Soniee turned back to look at him with a nostalgic smile to hide the knot that was tightening in the pit of her stomach. "I haven't thought about her in ages."

"She's married now, has a son and a daughter."

"A family? Isn't that something?"

"Cadet Lagos all but completed her education. We could invite her finish to her exams as you did or award her a graduation certificate like the one you declined."

"Why don't you?" Soniee asked with mock curiosity.

Almec shook his head. "It's a matter of… her husband, the father of her younger child. He is a clone trooper who went missing in action during the siege."

She let her breath out as a mirthless laugh. "Ah. Not exactly Imperial Senate material then."

"It's a good thing that there is another option."

She didn't speak but she noticed that Almec glanced back over his shoulder before he continued. Soniee only thought now to wonder that he didn't have a visible guard. He knew what she could do and he was bating her. He must believe he had a powerful ally or a more powerful enemy.

"This last candidate is well qualified." He cleared his throat. "Born to the position you might say. His… _mother_ held the highest political position in our government, after all."

Soniee didn't care if he had an army waiting behind him in the ship. She felt the power coursing through her from the crystals at her throat to the deepest part of her being.

He must have noticed the change in her demeanor. He faltered and looked back to the open hatchway once again. "Of course we needn't disrupt their happy lives if you would only agree to come back with me and take up your office."

"That would seem to be the easiest solution for everyone." She smiled and Almec sighed with relief. "I'll go with you. But you have to promise me that my friends will be safe. Does anyone else know about them?"

"No." He smiled and almost laughed before he began to gasp for air. His hands clawed at his throat in an effort to remove the unseen garrote.

Soniee's raised hand clenched tighter around his windpipe a meter away from actually touching him. "And no one ever will."

She made sure that he had completely stopped twitching before she let his lifeless body fall to the ground and then she addressed the figure in the shadows of the _Kom'rk_ 's hatchway, "I know you're there. Show yourself, whoever you are."

* * *

a comment? just a itty bitty little comment for little ol' me? pretty please?


	39. Come to the dark side We have cookies

A figure, hooded and cloaked, stumbled down the _Kom'rk_ 's gangplank. "You saved me from that awful man. How could I have known all those years ago when I saved your life that you would some day return the favor." She, because the voice was feminine and familiar for some reason, pulled Soniee into an awkward embrace before Soniee was able to get a look at her face beneath the hood.

"All those years ago? Saved my…" Soniee gently pushed the other girl away and stared in amazed recognition. "Barriss? But how?"

Years ago indeed, Padawan Barriss Offee had been the first Jedi Soniee was introduced to when she arrived at the Temple to bear witness to the tragic events that led up to the take over of the Mandalorian government and the murder of Duchess Satine.

Barriss had been perfectly friendly to her, showing her to a place where she could get cleaned up after her long flight, finding her a change of clothes, and doing her hair before she went to speak to the masters. She had been encouraging and helpful as Soniee prepared her presentation. She had warned Soniee not to return to the hanger…

"Oh, Soniee, I can't believe it's actually you. I mean I knew it was you he was coming to find but I never believed… I had hoped even that we wouldn't find you. That… he wouldn't find you and make you do something terrible." The former Jedi Padawan looked down at the dead body her expression unreadable either visually or in the Force.

Soniee studied the Mirialan. Her once lovely green complexion had faded to gray. She was thinner than Soniee remembered, as well. The eyes above the black diamond pattern were sunken and blood shot with a sickly yellow glow. What had they done to her? Was this what came of her captivity after…

"We should get him back on board." Barriss suggested, not letting Soniee finish her thought. "We wouldn't want anyone to come along and find him… like this."

"You're right." Soniee went toward the corpse's head while Barriss stepped toward his feet. They both lifted but Barriss hardly took any of the weight. Either of them, with their Force powers should have been able to lift the man easily on their own. As it was, Barriss's 'help' seemed to drag all three of them down.

What if she couldn't tap into that power anymore? Soniee didn't really want to ask in case it was a sore spot. Was that why she had seemed so afraid of Almec? Was she now unable to fight against even a weak old man?

When the two of them had managed to get the former Prime Minister into the cabin, Soniee brushed off her hands and continued towards the cockpit. She sat down in the pilot's seat and sighed.

"What are you going to do?" Barriss asked her, slightly out of breath after the effort.

"I'm going…" Soniee looked over the controls lovingly. They were as familiar to her as the back of her own hand, "to program the nav computer to bury him several klicks under the surface of some moon."

"You can do that?"

"Of course." Soniee almost laughed. "I haven't been behind the stick of one of these things in years but my Momma used to work on them. She taught me to fly while I was still a little girl."

"I remember." There was a change in Barriss's voice but Soniee was too distracted with her programing to pay it much mind. "It was something like this that you first flew to Coruscant with Master Kenobi."

"That's right. Of course that particular ship had once belonged to the Death Watch. I caught all kinds of osik from my Momma when she found out."

"I remember we spoke about the war, how neither of us approved of how the Jedi peacekeepers had become generals."

Soniee paused, her hands hovered above the controls. "Yes we did."

"It's good, isn't it, that the war is over?"

"Is… that why you bombed the temple hanger?"

"It was a war." The voice was definitely more composed. The veil of weakness had dropped away almost entirely. "I believe you have also killed to protect your friends?" She glanced back at the dead body in the cabin. "You used what talents the universe gave you and did what needed to be done under the circumstances."

Soniee forced herself to remain calm. "And killing all those innocent temple workers, not to mention the Jedi and the clones, was necessary?"

"It made the point I was trying to get across." Barriss gave her a slight nod. "The Jedi deserved to be punished."

Soniee swallowed and stood. She had a feeling that there was nothing wrong at all with this former Padawan's powers. "But you were one of them." She headed for the hatchway as if to check something back outside on the dock but she tried not to turn her back on the other girl.

Barriss followed her down the gangway. "Not anymore." She unclasped the cape at her throat and let it fall to the ground, seemingly glad to shed the last of her weakling disguise.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" Soniee kept her voice level, still trying to appear merely curious. "The hunters… the inquisitors?"

"I'm surprised you've heard of us." Barriss smiled. "It is a relatively new order, one into which _you_ would make a wonderful addition."

"And you…" Soniee tried to think what to do next. She noticed the twin, curved saber hilts clipped to Barriss's belt. "I assume, would be lauded for bringing a new recruit into the fold?"

"You don't think that's why I'm here, do you?" She had the decency to look offended at the assumption. "Think of the opportunity I'm offering: a chance to use the skills you've always been forced to keep hidden and to learn so much more than the Jedi order would have ever allowed with their prudish ways."

"It is tempting." Soniee paced back and forth considering her options.

And then she almost smiled as the voice of her Great-something Grandfather Freedon Nadd spoke in her mind with a rather parental sounding disappointment, _Sanya Galia Kira!_

 _Why Grandfather_ , she thought back at him impishly. _You didn't think I would really_.

 _Lesser beings have succumbed_.

 _I would never join her_. Soniee assured him. _It's just… she has two lightsabers on her belt_. _What if she decides to take me in whether I like it or not?_

 _Are you not armed yourself?_ Along with his question she felt the dagger grow warm through her clothing where she had shoved it into her own belt.

 _But I'm not like her. I didn't grow up in the temple. I was never trained_.

 _Never?_

He brought to the front of her mind a memory from her days at the Royal Academy of Government. When Soniee and her fellow cadets were rehearsing for their production of the Bard's play, "The Prince of Alderaan", there were a few scenes that involved dueling. Professor Topher who was directing brought in a fencing instructor to help Amis and Korkie learn their choreography.

To give it some realism, since Amis's character was from Onderon, it was an Onderonian fencing instructor. And so Lagos and Soniee wouldn't feel left out, they were allowed to participate in the lesson as well.

What was it he had told them? It seemed so long ago now. Something about how the jungles of his planet and the narrow city streets of Iziz and the decks of northern sailing ships made wide sweeping movements impractical. Therefore the Onderonians preferred shorter blades meant for close quarters fighting with a style of more jabs and thrusts.

 _It's been a long time since I've practiced those moves_ , _Grandfather_ , Soniee thought. _And I'm sure that's not the style she learned at the temple_.

 _You are forgetting that I once studied saber fighting with the Jedi also, Little One_. She was sure she could hear a smile in the voice of the Dark Jedi Freedon Nadd. _And it was I who forged the blade you carry now_.

The entire conversation and memory had taken less than a galactic standard minute but still Barriss stood rigidly impatient. Her gray hands flitted over her saber hilts.

Soniee slipped her own hand around her back and felt for the dagger. The grip was comfortable and the crystals were warm against her palm but she resisted drawing it out. Instead she asked, "What would your order want with me? An untrained girl who's never even held a lightsaber?"

"You've already demonstrated that you have a natural skill in other areas." Barriss scoffed, unclipping her own weapons as if to show how easy they were to handle. "You were a quick study at your academy, were you not?" She snapped the ends of the two hilts together to form one long unit and then turned her face up to look Soniee in the eye. "Besides, it's in your blood. Isn't that why you came home to Onderon? To discover your legacy?"

 _She's done her homework_. Grandfather observed dryly. _I did tell you they were coming_.

 _I was hoping you meant Almec_. She thought at him and then more quietly to herself, _or Korkie_.

But he was right. This order of inquisitors whoever they were, whoever their leader was, and Soniee was sure she knew the answer to that. They didn't just want her because she was Force sensitive. They wanted her connection to a greater power. Or did they?

"Definitely a score for you with your masters if you return to your order with me at your side." Soniee didn't deny Barriss's assumption and she didn't miss the inquisitor's prideful grin. "Do they know or is my lineage meant to be a surprise?"

The grin widened. "It will be my privilege to introduce them to the child of Freedon Nadd's prophecy. I doubt they had any idea you even existed."

Soniee took a deep breath. She felt something like an encouraging pat on the back from her silent partner. Then she drew the dagger from her belt. "And they needn't be disappointed if I decline the offer."

The grin turned into an angry sneer before Barriss pressed a button on the side of her helmet and a face guard swished down into place. Then both sides of the lightsaber were ignited forming a menacing bar of red light, two full meters in length. It was meant to strike fear into the heart of the victim before anything else was struck. Fear is what the wielder would feed on to draw power for the fight.

Soniee had drawn on the fear and pain of her opponents in battle before. She knew that intoxicating rush. She felt the remnants of the dark energy left over from the moments she had held Almec's life in her hands and snuffed it out. She rolled her wrist feeling the weight of the long dark dagger. It was no lightsaber but the Adegan crystals glowed a softer red light of their own.

"Better to give up now than attempt to face me with that little knife." Barriss tutted, her voice distorted by the helmet, as she began to spin her weapon in a hypnotizing arch. She laughed. "At least it matches your necklace."

 _She has the better reach but she can't touch you if you get in close_. Grandfather offered his advice.

"I know!" Soniee said aloud and grit her teeth at her enemy's answering laugh. She watched the circling blade for an opening.

She remembered once when she was very little watching _Ordo'buir_ fixing a speeder engine. The engine was running, vibrating like mad, and a spanner slid down into the mess of whirring gears and pistons. Sonika didn't give it a second thought. She reached her small hand down into all that chaos. Momma screamed and came running but her peculiar daughter had extracted the tool without a scratch and handed it to her with a smile.

This was a bit like that. Soniee advanced with a calm assurance and with a quick jab divided the long weapon into its separate components. She had only half a standard second to revel in the small victory before Barriss took after her with a growl and double the skewers with which to impale her.

"Osik!" Soniee jumped back to avoid just such a fate and then brought up her own blade just in time to block both the inquisitor's blades.

Barriss must have assumed that her own weapons would have cut easily through the unknown black material but the orbalisk shell didn't even show a scratch and the Adegan crystals glowed brighter.

Both combatants retreated to take a breath. The inquisitor retracted the face guard of her helmet to stare at the other girl with her weirdly glowing eyes. Maybe she as rethinking what her prey was made of and her weapon as well. Almost before Soniee could react she was in motion again.

Soniee blocked and parried on pure instinct, and with a little luck managed to deflect the rain of blows.

 _She has a pattern. Can you see it?_ Grandfather asked.

 _Uh… Elek… I think so_.

 _On her next downward strike with her right blade, block horizontally and then twist. Do you think you can do that?_

Soniee thought she could and as the thing happened it was almost as if it were in slow motion. The blades met, red fire against the iron hard shell. Soniee whipped her wrist around and the hilt was torn from Barriss's hand. The blade gouged a steaming rent in the permicrete before the hilt extinguished itself and went skittering out of reach.

Barriss tried to pull it back to herself with the Force but Soniee was faster. The untrained user shoved the fallen saber farther away and got in a few barely deflected jabs before Barriss was able to exchange her remaining weapon to her stronger right hand.

Now, a little more evenly matched, with only one weapon to guard against, neither combatant seemed in any danger of tiring. They exchanged rapid blows and danced around the field of battle. Soniee was energized but she could sense Grandfather's impatience.

 _Drop!_ He told her in no uncertain terms.

 _What?_ She asked.

 _Do it! On my signal, drop to your knees!_

His direction had served her well up till this point. _Okay_.

Another parry. Another jab. And then…

 _Now!_

Soniee dropped to her knees and felt the lightsaber blade pass neatly over her head. She thought a few of her hairs might have been singed. The momentum of the swing had left Barriss standing directly above her, too close to bring the saber down in another strike.

 _Thrust straight up_.

She did as she was told and felt the tip of the dagger break through fabric and flesh just beneath the inquisitor's ribs. She continued to drive the blade upward through organs and tissue while the life's blood of her enemy pulsed out over her hands. She didn't stop until she knew that she had pierced the heart.

A strangled screech and a gurgle and then a trickle of more blood came from the inquisitor's mouth as Soniee eased her body to the ground. There was so much blood. Soniee couldn't help but think, had their roles been reversed, it would have been much cleaner with the cauterizing effect of the lightsaber blade.

It might have been quicker as well. Barriss was still trying to speak, "... Lost our way…" Her eyes cleared of the evil yellow glow and she looked up into Soniee's face with something like recognition. "... D-don't go… to your ship…"

She went rigid, gasped, and then fell limp in death. Soniee needn't have seen it happen to feel her pass from the living Force.

And now what to do? Soniee was sure the Empire would be even more upset about losing one of their inquisitors than they would a loyal Prime Minister. Even if it wasn't known that the pair had been planning on coming to Onderon, if they were found dead here, there would be questions to answer.

Well, she was already planning on burying Almec deep under the surface of Concordia. He shouldn't have any complaint about sharing his resting place.

That decided, Soniee extracted the dagger with a further gush of blood and water, and then lifted the corpse from the ground.

She laid it down again inside the cabin of the ship next to the first body. It was almost too easy. She smiled as she sat once again in the pilot's seat to finish programing the nav coordinates. The computer beeped its dismay.

"Yes, I know that altitude for the landing is several kilometers below the ground level of the moon." She tutted back at it. And with that done she set to scrubbing the ship's memory of its trip to the Onderon system. If any part of the Kom'rk were salvageable after the crash anyone looking hard enough might be able to tell that it had expended enough fuel to make a couple of hyperjumps but they wouldn't be able to tell where it had jumped too.

With a quick bit of expert hacking she could have made it look like the former Prime Minister had taken a little jaunt over to Raxus, the former Separatist capital, or Dathomir, where Darth Maul was last known to haunt. But no, clearing out the history should do the trick.

That wasn't the only thing that needed cleaning however. Soniee looked at her hands almost surprised to see them covered in blood. She let out a manic giggle and decided to head for the fresher before she made her way back across the spaceport to her own freighter.

A plan was forming in her mind. She didn't need to run away. Her enemies had come against her and she had defeated them. Wouldn't Saw have loved to see that? She regretted sending him away now. She would go to the rondevu point and bring him and Zal and Reese back to Onderon. Together they could hold off anything the Empire threw at them.

She smiled at herself in the mirror above the sink. The light of determination was in her eyes. Nothing could stop her. She practically skipped over the bodies on her way back to the cockpit where she flipped the switch to begin the ignition sequence.

She danced back down the gangway and flicked her wrist for the hatchway to close behind her. She didn't even watch as the craft took off into the air for its final voyage. Her future was ahead. She might even make it to the spot Saw had chosen before he did.

On the ground she noticed the hilt of the lightsaber she had disarmed from her opponent during the fight. She picked the thing up and clipped it to her own belt with a laugh.

Soniee entered her own dear B-7 through the hold loading hatch. That's when something caught her eye. It wasn't the trunks of clothes that had been handed down to her from the Duchess but a far older inheritance. She had completely forgotten about them, walking past hundreds of times to retrieve other items. She had meant to let Bo-Katan use them during the siege but they hadn't been necessary. Now they would serve to help her in her new mission of freeing Onderon from the yoke of the Empire and maintaining that freedom.

 _This isn't you_ , a voice said in her mind.

 _Korkie?_ Soniee shook her head to clear it and laid her hand against one of the _bes'uliik_ war droids that _Ordo'buir_ had given to her.

Suddenly she wasn't in the hold of the B-7. She was standing alongside the river in the middle of a thick jungle, watching a flotilla of northern ships file downstream.

 _Grandfather,_ she mentally grumbled, because who else could have done this. _Where are we?_

 _You've been here before. This is the river leading into Iziz, four thousand years in the past during the Mandalorian Wars._

She'd learned about the wars from Momma and _Ba'buir_. How their people had tried to spread their way across the galaxy and won a dozen victories only to end in crushing defeat and the clans being scattered to the winds. Onderon had been a turning point; the planet holding its own against the invaders and after a long and arduous conflict, finally expelling them to Dxun. That still didn't explain what she was doing here.

 _The vessels you see are a northern supply convoy,_ Grandfather continued. _When the war destroyed the fields, House Blackwell took over feeding the planet, much like they are now. These convoys came by fairly regularly._

Now that the ships were closer Soniee could make out the figures on deck. One of them drew her attention immediately: a girl of about twelve who looked near exactly like her northern friend, standing next to a younger boy who must have been her brother.

Grandfather explained. _That's Marla Blackwell, Lord Aloysius Blackwell's eldest daughter and heir._

 _So that's why she looks like Dalla,_ Soniee mused. _She's her ancestor._

 _She was supposed to be._

 _What?_

He turned her eyes to the sky. _Look._

She didn't need the instruction. No one could have missed the _bes'uliik_ breaking through the clouds, sweeping down toward the convoy in deadly formation.

They were huge. They were terrifying. They were - Soniee realized with a chill - very like the droids in the hold of B-7.

 _No._

 _There's nothing we can do, child._

The convoy noticed the war droids just then and chaos erupted with frantic attempts. Marla tackled her brother over the rail and he hit the river with a splash just as the deck lit up with blasterfire.

The droids and their Clan Ordo operators, Soniee knew them from the clan _aliik_ emblazoned on their buy'ce, circled the ships a few times barraging them with their cannons and watching them take on water and drag any soul who may have survived the initial assault to a watery grave.

Closer to Soniee's perspective the young Blackwell resurfaced and sloshed ashore. And then she was no longer by the river. She looked around and found herself in the royal palace in Iziz.

 _Galia had just taken her little son from her breast when she heard the door to the adjacent room where her husband was looking over the war maps open._

 _"Blackwell," Oron said and Galia relaxed. Her husband and Aloysius Blackwell might not have been on the best of terms, but at least they were all on the same side._

 _That was what she thought, at least, until Aloysius bellowed "Confess!" and there was an almighty crash followed by Oron's shout of surprise._

 _Galia froze in place for half a second before she tucked herself back in order, snatched up her son and raced through the door. She arrived just in time to see Oron throw Aloysius to the ground from where the other man had him slammed against the wall._

 _"Confess!" Aloysius flipped them over._

 _Oron dodged the blow. "Confess what?!"_

 _Galia screamed when her husband punched Aloysius in a vicious uppercut and rolled out from under him._

 _"You know!" Aloysius spat blood and charged at Oron again. "You know what you did to Marla!"_

 _"Marla?" Galia repeated, not loud enough to get the men's attention. How could she or Oron have done anything to the Blackwells' twelve-year-old daughter?_

 _Saying his daughter's name had only enraged Aloysius more. "Murderer!" he roared and charged at Oron again. "Confess!"_

 _Galia clutched her son to her chest. If not for the child she would have tried to peel the men apart herself but all she could do now was shout. "Stop! Aloysius, stop so we can talk about this!"_

 _"There's nothing to talk about." Aloysius took his eyes off Oron for one second to give Galia a bone-chilling glare and Oron wrestled him down._

 _The door swooshed open again and Aloysius' wife Dalla raced in followed by her half-brother Mordecai Rash. "Aloysius!"_

 _Mordecai wrested the two men apart and stood between them to keep any more violence from breaking out. "Aloysius, this is not the way. She wouldn't have wanted this."_

 _"Who wouldn't have wanted this?" Galia cried over her son's screams. "What happened?"_

 _"Tell her!" Aloysius demanded, baring his bloodstained teeth. "Tell your wife what you ordered!"_

 _"I didn't order anything, Blackwell!"_

 _"Enough!" Dalla Blackwell clapped her hands over her ears and ducked like she was in incredible anguish._

 _The room was silent except for Dalla's sobs until Galia spoke. "Dalla, what's wrong?"_

 _"Why?" Dalla moaned. "Why did you kill my baby?"_

 _Galia and Oron both froze._

 _"What?" Oron whispered and looked to his own son in Galia's arms._

 _"Don't lie!" Aloysius strained against Mordecai once again. "You know what you did, but I'll say it so your wife knows what you are. Marla was killed this morning, and I was foolish enough to think it was Mandalorians until Cade told me the killer was a man on a beast. Mandalorians don't ride! One of your Beast Riders murdered Marla. I know you hate us Kira, but I thought you would stop before killing children." He lunged. "Why did you give the order? Why?"_

 _"I gave no such order," Oron insisted._

 _"Lies!"_

 _"Aloysius." Mordecai held him back. "Take Dalla out. She shouldn't be here."_

 _"This son of a whore murdered my daughter! He tore out my heart; I say an eye for an eye."_

 _Galia bent over the baby protectively and Oron shielded the both of them with his body. "You're mad. You've always been mad, Blackwell, but living in that white hell must have made it worse. I would never order the death of a child whose only crime was having a madman for a father. And I will never let you do the same to mine."_

 _"It's you who's a madman, Kira," Mordecai fished the necklace he'd planned to give to Galia so long ago out of his pocket and looked at it, thinking what a fool he'd been for trusting Kira. "And know your motherless child will be raised by the monsters who did this. We'll see how well you sleep at night."_

 _Galia let out a shriek and Oron reached for the dagger at his waist. "I will gut you before you touch my son!" It wasn't Nadd's dagger._ That _was safely locked away in the tomb on Dxun where they had thought that all of the darkness was buried. Darkness however still existed in men's souls whether or not they exhibited power in the Force._

 _"We won't be. You'll seal his fate all on your own." Aloysius spat over his shoulder while he escorted his wife out of the room. "Burn in hell!"_

 _The door slammed shut behind them and Oron sprang to lock it and barricade it with a chair._

 _"We would never have hurt their little girl," Galia checked to make sure she wasn't squeezing her baby with tears streaming down her face. "Why don't they see?"_

 _"Blackwell would use any excuse to harm our house," Oron seethed. "Even one this disgusting."_

 _Galia held out the baby. "Oron, we can't let them hurt him!"_

 _"They won't," he promised. "If Blackwell or any of his line sets foot in the palace, the threshold will run red with his blood."_

 _"What did he mean?" She swallowed, still shaking with rage and fright. "'Your motherless child will be raised by the monsters…' He sounded like my father when he said it. He sounded like… like he was making a prophecy."_

 _Oron didn't know rightly how to answer. His wife knew more about the sorcery her ancestors had practiced, but the way Rash had waved those red stones when he said the words, there was something ominous about it. He wrapped she and their son in his arms. "I won't let that happen. That power is gone from Onderon, dead and banished to the demon moon."_

 _"I know. You're right. We can only hope it stays that way."_

…

"It was me he meant, wasn't it?" Soniee whispered into the silence as the vision dissipated. "Not the baby in Galia's arms, but still her blood. I was the motherless child raised by the clan that…" She realized her hand was still resting on the leg of the droid and she drew back from it in horror.

 _Now, don't you see why you need to end this?_

"Yes, Grandfather."

…

It was a much more subdued Sanya Galia Kira who changed out of her blood soaked clothing and made her way down through the tunnels under the city of Iziz. Anyone she chanced to pass on her way had the sudden urge to get as far away from that place as possible without her having to say a word.

She reached the portal and it opened before her like an automatic opening door at a shop in Sundari or on Coruscant. She shut it behind her again and though there were no torches she could see clearly by the glow of the stones in the dagger and the necklace that she's still wore.

She chatted with grandfather, stalling because he was the closest she'd had to a real parent in so long. She almost wished she could call him back just to be her family.

"No, my child," His voice whispered, clearer than ever before, as if he were actually standing beside her. "there is another."

She nodded, "If I live through this I'll go to him." With a sigh she lifted the lightsaber and ignited it, adding to the red glow of the stones in the small space. "So what do I do with this?"

"Just put it down there."

She shut it off and laid it at the edge of the blood stained circle. Then she set the point of Freedon Nadd's dagger at the center of the stain, Nadd's Blood.

"Goodbye, Grandfather," she whispered and plunged the blade deep into the ancient stone.

She was blinded by a white light and the whole world seemed to shatter but she felt no pain.

* * *

loose ends tied up all the way from back in the Ashla Spectrum, but what is to become of our hero?

Again the flashback is a collaboration with the talented Lux's Sister. And a reminder that when this story is over (don't worry i have a couple of chapters up my sleeve yet) she and I will be treating you all to a sequel both to this story and to our Polaris epic. We're not finished with Onderon just yet. So if you haven't already checkout 'Polaris' and if you have read that one already, it wouldn't hurt to give it another skim through to refresh your memory.

As always, I thrive on comments so send some of those my way.


	40. All Come Tumbling Down

"She was naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away… yet she was unhurt." Three newly hatched drexls were perched… Oh wait, wrong story. You're going to have to wait a bit longer to find out what exactly happened to Cadet Soniee Ordo-Kryze, Mandalorian Representative to the Republic Senate, Wife of the Heir of Mandalore, Princess of Onderon, Sanya Galia Kira, Blood of Freedon Nadd, Dara Rash-Bonteri, Mother of Drexls; and so is someone else who has come looking for her…

* * *

He started speaking even before the image totally came into focus in the holo projection. "Alright, Mother, you said to comm as soon as I dropped out of hyperspace and here I am."

" _Korkie_." Lagos smiled, bouncing her baby girl on her hip. " _Glad to hear it_."

"I still can't tell you where…" He began before Lagos's husband stepped up behind her.

" _He's gone to Onderon, hasn't he?_ " Fox grinned and held up Tracen to the cam. " _Say, 'hi', to Uncle Kork_."

The toddler waved.

Korkie waved back. "Hey, Trace. And, yes. You know me too well." He sighed. "No one else knows though, do they?"

Lagos regained the primary focus of the holocam. " _No. Fenn said you needed a little vacation and we just figured. You've been having the dreams again, haven't you?_ "

"They're not dreams." He began defensively, then admitted, "Yes, I… she said she still needed me. I know it was a moment of weakness but… the things I've seen, Lagos, especially in the last few days…" He ran a hand over the beard he had stopped bothering to trim.

" _I'm glad you're going to find her. We both are_ ," Lagos encouraged.

Korkie nodded. He needed the support of his friends more than he was willing to admit. He was still afraid that Soniee was just going to tell him she'd moved on. There was someone who appeared often in the images she allowed him to see. It was usually when this… _Saw_ showed up that his connection to her was unceremoniously slammed shut.

Well if that's what she wanted, then Manda bless them both, but he wanted to hear it from her. Korkie needed to hear it from her.

And there was something else. "Lag, can you tell me… has there been any news from Sundari? Do you know if… Has the Prime Minister had any cause to… leave the system?"

" _Almec?_ " Lagos frowned. " _No, I don't think so. There hasn't been any public mention of it anyway_."

"So he's still on _Manda'yaim_ as far as you know?"

" _Elek._ " She confirmed. " _Why? Have you… Was Almec in one of the visions you saw of Soniee?_ " Lagos handed little Veeka off to her father so she could better concentrate on the conversation.

"I thought so." Korkie shook his head. "He was asking her to come back and be the representative again. But he said if she didn't…" Here he hesitated. "He said that maybe one of her classmates could take her place. Lag, he said things… like he knew where he could find us."

" _What did she do?_ " She asked almost as if she already knew.

"You know she'd do anything to protect her friends." They shared a meaningful look. "I don't know if even I could have stopped her after that. She…" He couldn't even put it into words.

" _You think she's… gone over to the dark side or… whatever they call it?_ "

"I think it was a very near thing. She…" Just then he had to focus more on his flying than the conversation. Another ship, a _Kom'rk_ very similar to his own, was headed straight towards him without any sign of diverting from its collision course. Korkie swerved and swore into the open comm frequency. There was no response from the other ship. There were also no life signs aboard. He had only a moment to marvel at the apparition before the craft jumped into hyperspace.

"Kriffing shabla!"

" _What?_ " Lagos asked.

"This _Kom'rk_ just came right at me!"

" _You don't think they recognized you?_ "

"I don't think there was anyone on board."

" _Ori'shabla_."

" _Language!_ " Fox's voice called from outside the image frame. " _Trace'll be repeating that all over the place now_."

Lagos rolled her eyes.

"Look, I should probably go." Part of Korkie wanted to stall and stay on the comm for as long as he could. "I'm almost there. There'll be more traffic as I get closer."

"Kork, I hope you find her soon and that she's alright." His friend told him sincerely.

"Thanks. I'd… I'm sure I'd know if something had happened to her. I'll let you know as soon as I'm able. Kryze out."

…

The first thing that hit Korkie as he stepped out of his ship into the atmosphere of the foreign planet was the humidity. The air was thick and oppressive. He wondered if Onderon was always like this or he had just missed a rainstorm.

It didn't really surprise him that his foot splashed into a puddle as he stepped from the ramp onto the permicrete. The surprise came to realize that it was not water but blood that wet the ground.

"Manda!" He swallowed. It couldn't have been a coincidence, not after the vision he had witnessed in his connection with Soniee. How many duels to the death could there have been on this planet in the last standard hour?

He didn't want to believe it was possible that the bloody footprints that led away from this place would take him to her, but he didn't know where else to start.

Gradually the trail faded as the grisly remains of the battle must have dried on the retreating combatant's shoes. Korkie somehow knew that Soniee was that survivor. He hadn't felt anything that led him to the conclusion that she was dead or gone from this place. She was close, tantalizingly close, and whatever she had done couldn't make him love her any less.

Sure enough, when he looked up in the direction the footprints seemed to have been headed, he saw it, her own little B-7 freighter.

The ship had been their first home. They had christened the cabin on their first night as husband and wife. And it hadn't been only the sleeping cabin that had witnessed their coupling. Manda! In those days he had been so intent on getting her pregnant. He didn't just want to be a father for all the keeping of the _Resol'nare_. A child, he had thought, would make them a real family, like neither of them had ever had growing up as orphans.

It hadn't happened that way at all, far from it. She had been so afraid and yet he had insisted. Everything should have been fine once their son arrived but it wasn't. When she needed him most Korkie had named her _cuy'val dar_ "Those who no longer exist." In doing so he had cut her off from everyone who loved her. He had thought he was protecting her. Truth was, she was fully capable of protecting herself.

Korkie cursed himself and brought his fist down hard on the outer hull of the ship. The back hatch slowly began to open.

He hadn't meant for that to happen. Perhaps it hadn't been closed properly. Perhaps she was inside. He chanced a call into the dark hold, "Soniee?"

There was no answer.

He stepped inside. He saw the droids _Ordo'buir_ had sent to her shortly before the Concord Dawn disaster and he pictured his wife sitting in one of them, insensible to his cries.

He had gotten her back from that. Perhaps there was still hope that he could get her back now. "Soniee!" He called again a little louder and then he began his search in earnest.

It wasn't a large ship. His search didn't take long to come up empty. Still, there had to be something here that would give him some hint as to where she had gone. The blood drenched clothing had been discarded in favor of clean garments. He took that as a good sign.

There was something else that she generally wore, he remembered, and he didn't see it here. If she still had the _buy'ce_ with her he could comm her! Why hadn't he thought of it before?

Korkie raced back to the cockpit. He wouldn't worry about going back to his own _kom'rk_. He could contact her from here.

Before he could punch in the ID, however, the ground beneath the B-7 began to tremble. He knew in his heart that was not a coincidence. It had something to do with her.

…

The quake knocked some of the genealogy documents off the table where Dendup and Werda were looking over them.

"Are you alright?" She checked the old man over for injury.

"I'm fine," Dendup hurried to the window to check for visible damage to the city. Nothing seemed to have collapsed or exploded, which left one possible site.

Werda appeared beside him. "It's the tunnels."

"Saw must have something to do with this." Maybe an attempt to hide the evidence of his activities? Dendup didn't think so; the Empire already knew what the partisans had done so what was the point?

"He can't. He's already left the planet." Werda began to gather up her belongings. "I have to go. I know the tunnels better than anyone."

The king knew better than to think he could stop the shadow girl. "Be careful. They'll still be unstable."

"I will."

…

Korkie ran towards the commotion. It wasn't hard to find the site where the authorities were already holding back the crowds. He pushed forward, trying to get to the front, looking over the heads of the multitude of curious natives.

He saw a couple of uniformed men bringing up some survivors from what seemed to be a tunnel entrance. Yes, that would make sense. He remembered the vision he had witnessed a few weeks ago, when she had found a chamber deep beneath the city. That must have been where she had gone today.

He tried to get a better look at the females who were being helped to the surface now, but neither of them was Soniee. One of them was Twi'lek and the other Pantoran.

A redheaded human girl broke through the line and ran toward them. She spoke to them frantically and then pushed a load of flimsiwork and datapads into the Pantoran's arms. She tried to go towards the opening they were just brought up from but she was stopped by one of the guards. She pointed across the open marketplace and got the man restraining her to look there before breaking away while he was distracted and making a dash for the tunnel.

Korkie also saw his chance and took advantage of the distraction to follow her. He kept far enough behind so that she won't notice him but the redheaded girl was more focused on what might be ahead.

They descended for what seemed like hours, sometimes slowing to a crawl to climb over or duck under the wreckage. Other areas required careful footing where the floor had all but given way to the lower levels.

Eventually the girl stopped. She bent over to pick something up. He couldn't tell what it was until she turned and walked back in his direction. She must have found whatever she was looking for, proof of the presence of a friend or loved one? She made her way back up towards the surface clutching a Mandalorian helmet.

Korkie blended back into the shadows and watched her pass. It couldn't be true. Yes, that was Soniee's helmet, the one Bo-Katan had given her before her fateful trip to Coruscant. And it was true that when they were apart back then, she hadn't let the thing out of her sight in the hopes that he would contact her.

But she wasn't expecting a comm from him now, and perhaps she had decided to leave that part of her life behind her as she continued down to do… whatever she had to do, whatever had caused this destruction.

Korkie pressed on, deeper into the catacombs.

…

The militia had given the all-clear for the city's safety and Ramsis Dendup no longer had to worry about his people being swallowed up by the earth. He laid his hand on the helmet that Miss Flint had brought up from her own search of that place and shook his head sadly. Then he went to the comm room and contacted the two young heirs to the remaining great houses.

Both of them must have realized the gravity of the situation as soon as they saw the caller's ID because the instant Lux and Dalla picked up they were all questions.

 _"What is it? What's happened?"_

 _"What did Saw do?"_

"I have it on good authority that Mr Gerrera has left the planet so for once it wasn't he who caused the chaos," Dendup sighed. "There has been a cave-in in the catacombs and it appears your friend Sanya was involved."

Lux and Dalla looked at each other. Obviously they knew something Dendup didn't but what use would it be now.

Lux spoke first. _"Were there many casualties?_

"No, thank goodness. There was only one."

 _"It's her, isn't it?"_ Lux sounded like he didn't quite believe it, but there was no denying what had happened. No one could have survived that cave-in.

"It is."

Dalla made a sign to the salt gods and Lux shuddered.

"I'm sorry for your loss, and I know you want nothing more than to mourn your friend. But with her passing, I need you both here."

 _"Oh gods,"_ Dalla looked to her friend. _"Lux…"_

Lux nodded, slowly. _"I'll get the first flight over. Dalla...will you…?"_

She nodded. _"I'm at sea but I'll get there as soon as I can."_

 _"Thank you."_

…

He hadn't been born with the ability to bend the Force to his will. Korkie had often wondered, since he met Ahsoka, since he learned who his father was, since Soniee shared with him her deepest secret, what it might be like to wield that kind of power. Several times on this downward journey he wished he could take a soaring leap over a treacherous crevasse, or shove an impeding boulder out if his way.

Still, even though he couldn't control it, he had never doubted its existence. He had felt it. He felt it through his connection to Soniee and he felt it in this place.

His skin tingled and the hairs lifted on the back of his neck. He was here to find her, to let her know that he didn't blame her for anything and he loved her no matter what but… he couldn't help but think there was another reason.

The Order may have been abolished, their practice forbidden, but the legacy, the lore of the Jedi was still very much alive! Being here in this place so rich with the Force, awoke in him the desire to learn more about who his father was and what he believed in. Someone had to discover and protect the knowledge and the history.

First thing first, he had to find Soniee and make sure she was okay. He felt that she was okay, though how anyone could have survived the blast that had caused this destruction was beyond his comprehension.

The wreckage grew worse with every step that he took nearer its epicenter, until the path suddenly became clear. He had reached the eye in the middle of the storm. It was the chamber he had seen her enter in the vision weeks ago.

Even this place, however, had not been left completely unscarred. The light from his _buy'ce_ 's lamp fell on a sort of crater in the middle of the room. And there at its edge something small reflected the beam. He walked over and knelt to pick up the pure crystal that was no bigger than his little finger.

It was very like the one that Soniee had found behind the wreck of her mother's ship, the crystal she had said sung to her and she always wore on a cord around her neck. This wasn't that crystal and it didn't sing to him. He was certain that he would have had to actually possess the Force like she did, and like his father, for him to be able to hear it or see it glow. Still he couldn't help but feel that he was meant to find it.

He held the tiny object tightly in his hand and closed his eyes. He was more sure than ever that Soniee had made it out of this mess alive. Now he just had to follow in her footsteps and make his way to the surface before the rest of the crumbling structure came down around him.

When he opened his eyes again he saw something he hadn't noticed before. Perhaps the Force had illuminated the way he should go. It was another passageway, opposite of the way he had come down.

"Alright." He took a deep breath and went towards it. He would trust the Force.

The path led up and up and Korkie lost all track of time until finally he stepped out into the dazzling sunlight. He looked around. This wasn't the city but out in the wilds surrounding Iziz.

He heard a sound, just then, like nothing he had ever heard in his life and looked up in the sky to see a great winged beast circling overhead. On its back were two figures. One of them was Soniee, plainly, even from this distance, exhausted from her ordeal. The other was a man who cradled her gently in his arms. Korkie had seen him also in her visions. It was her father.

* * *

so she's not dead! Yay! but most of her friends believe her to be... again. She was able to complete the task she set out to do. So what comes next? any guesses? I have dropped a few hints. not much more to go. and then Lux's Sister and I will have not one but two stories to follow up. One will pick up about 4 years after these events and the other takes place a thousand years before on our same dear planet of Onderon. Stay tuned for more info. And Comment, Review, Talk to me people!


	41. In My End Is My Beginning

Soniee survived her ordeal but with only one or two witnesses. It begs the question: will she correct the assumption or allow the misconception to provide yet another convenient escape?

* * *

 _"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I couldn't save him…"_

 _"No. It wasn't your fault. I never blamed you. It was me. I was the one who insisted. You were afraid and I didn't listen."_

 _"But I wanted… and I tried… and I wasn't strong enough."_

 _"And I went and told everyone you were dead when you needed your friends the most."_

 _"You were trying to protect them and me. I understand that now…_ Cin vhetin _."_

 _"_ Cin vhetin. Manda _! I missed you,_ cyar'ika _!"_

 _"I missed you, too."_

 _It had been so long since they had come together as husband and wife._ Mhi solus dar'tome _._

…

The dream had been so vivid. It had seemed so real and Soniee didn't want to wake. It almost felt like she'd actually had the chance to forgive him… and he had forgiven her. It was a disappointment therefore to not find Korkie lying there beside her, wherever she was.

Looking around at the rough rock walls she feared for an instant that she was still down in those passageways under the city. But no. She remembered climbing out into the sunlight. Besides this place had more of a sense of altitude.

Papa was there when she had emerged. He had flown them… home. She sensed him nearby now even though his footsteps were quiet, and she thought she heard water flowing somewhere. There was a fresher he had pointed out when they arrived here before he showed her to the place where she could sleep. This was as comfortable as any bed she had ever slept in. It was made more so when her husband had entered her dreams. The thought made her blush.

She couldn't think about that now. She had to think about what to do next. What she really wanted was a bath and when she got to the fresher she realized that one had already been drawn for her. _Thank you, Papa!_

It wasn't exactly a real fresher with all the modern amenities. The water was collected from the rain and then heated from a steam vent. It was cunningly arranged. Melanna hadn't put all this together on her own. While Bremon may have improved upon it to suit his own needs in the past twenty years, the groundwork for this hideaway from the world must have been laid generations before.

After a long soak to wash away the remaining blood from the battle and dirt from the journey through the tunnels after the cave-in, Soniee toweled off and put on what she thought must have been one of her mother's old flight suits.

Bremon glanced up at her as she entered the main cavern but quickly focused again on what he was doing. Maybe the mundane task was easier than seeing her standing there looking so much like Melaana. Still he made the effort, "Are you feeling better?"

"I am. That was wonderful." Her voice didn't sound like Melaana's. She had relaxed into her old Concordian accent.

She thought about moving towards her father but held back. "It's over, Papa, the prophecy, Nadd's Blood, all of it."

"I'm glad." He smiled. "But I'm more glad that you're okay. Is there anyone you need to contact, to let them know? It was quite a quake you caused. They're all likely to think that…"

"That I didn't survive?" She sighed. "Well, it's not the first time. Besides I'm not sure if there's anyone…"

"What about my son-in-law?" he asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"Korkie?" She remembered her dream and felt her face grow warm.

"You talk in your sleep." Bremon chuckled. "You get that from your mother."

She teased him right back. "I suppose I could contact him if _someone_ carried a comm device."

He nodded in defeat. "Yes, but you have something don't you?"

"I left my helmet back in the tunnels." She sat in a chair and accepted the mug he offered her. It wasn't caff exactly, probably from some root he gathered himself in the wild so he didn't have to go into Iziz and buy the real thing. It was good though, and she figured, had the same stimulant properties.

"It was the symbol." She touched her forehead. "The symbol of the clan that raised me. I didn't realize that it was the same clan that was responsible for so much devastation here during the Mandalorian War. Must have been the reason for the feuds between the families…"

"The feud? You mean the stand off between the hot headed Blackwells and our own stubborn honorbound brood?"

"My friend Dalla is a Blackwell and so is Aunt Shara."

The corner of his mouth twitched at the title his daughter bestowed on his old friend. "First of all none of that is your fault. And we have tried in the past to mend the breech. Have you heard about the betrothal of Dina Blackwell and our ancestor Modon Kira a thousand years ago?"

She nodded and took another swallow of the 'almost' caff. "Saw and Shara told me a bit about the massacre of the Shechel Clan."

"Did they tell you how Modon gave up his throne to his advisor Horus Dendup because he was too consumed with grief to go on ruling the planet?"

They hadn't, not in so many words, but had this been what Lux was trying to tell her at the ball? Soniee stood and went to her father and hugged him. "It's why you've stayed so long away from the city as well, because of mother."

"Your mother was so strong and brave. Maybe if I'd had her at my side I could have relieved the warden and taken back our family's position." There was a hitch in his voice and he held her a little tighter. "Maybe if I had taken responsibility your Uncle Sanjay would have never…"

"Papa, that's not your fault either."

They were quiet for a while but not uncomfortably so, both lost in their thoughts while they went back to the table. They drank the hot beverage and ate the food he set out for breakfast. Finally she continued the topic they'd both been mulling over, "I am the princess, the heir. It is my responsibility…"

Soniee would take up that duty if she must, but she couldn't help but wonder if she would just be bringing more trouble to this planet from the Empire.

"It doesn't have to be." Bremon must have been thinking the same thing. "You can choose to hand your rule over to the next warden. I believe there is a very capable young man in line for the position."

She nodded. She needed to discuss this with Lux Bonteri.

…

Lux's planethopper broke through the clouds over the jungle the same time he terminated his comm with Dendup. He had to know for himself that it was true, that Soniee was really dead, before he could accept the position he'd never wanted.

Going through the city wasn't an option. He knew without looking that the collapse site would be crammed with gawkers. He wouldn't be able to see anything there.

Conversely no one seemed to remember the exit in the jungles. Or did anyone even know about it? Lux only knew from the rebellion.

It looked like one other person did. There was a figure near the exit jumping up and down and waving their arms. Was it her?

Lux steered the planethopper to the surface and deployed the landing gear. Now that he was closer it clearly wasn't Soniee but a young man with a pale Mandalorian complexion. No. It couldn't possibly be…

"She's alive! Soniee's alive!" Korkie Kryze didn't bother with introductions or greetings when Lux lowered the boarding ramp. They had only really met once and then the Duchess's true heir had been wearing his full _beskar'gam_. Still Lux had seen his holo and this had to be none other than Soniee's husband even with the unkempt growth of beard. But how did he get here? And why now after all this time?

Lux didn't ask those questions instead he focused on the words. "She's alive? Are you sure?"

"Elek! I saw her! She was with her father but I don't know where they went."

"Her father? You mean Bremon Kira?" How could he possibly know? Had she contacted him somehow?

"Manda! I don't know!" The Mandalorian grinned manically. He raked a hand through his fair ginger hair. It was a mess as if he had been through some great trial and then slept outdoors. Which he probably had. "It's was the man who… has her eyes. I saw them flying off on one of those…" he flapped his arms miming the creatures movements. "But she's alive, Bonteri! She's alive!" He clapped Lux on the shoulder.

Where did Bremon Kira go when he wasn't flying around on that ruping? Lux didn't know. Dalla had met up with the man once during the war but he didn't even consider asking her.

He could only trust that Soniee would come back when she was ready, just as she had the last two times she disappeared. When she did, he would be ready. And he'd have Korkie with him.

...

Korkie had attended the Academy for his entire academic career and lived in the basic dorms with Amis as his roommate, but he remembered going to visit his mother in the palace. Every time he'd press his nose to the glass of her fish tank and watch the aquatic creatures swim by for hours on end.

The estate Lux escorted him into didn't have a fish tank, but it was plush as his mother's apartments in every other way. Carefully maintained and tastefully decorated, the Bonteri estate displayed luxury and refinement.

If things had been different he and Soniee would be living in a place like this, together as husband and wife. They could install a new fish tank to watch in the evenings or for another little face to watch, entranced, as the fish came and went.

"Make yourself at home," Lux said, blissfully unaware of Korkie's torment. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Korkie purged the mental image from his mind before his emotions crushed him. Maybe a drink wasn't such a bad idea. "Yes, thank you."

Lux left the parlor and returned with two glasses of some kind of liquor on the rocks. "Forgive my presumption, but I made them strong."

"I believe that's just what we need." He accepted the drink and took a long pull. It burned all the way down, but it felt good. "How many times do you think our mothers did this?" he asked when the burn subsided.

"I don't know," Lux admitted. "They were good friends. They probably had a few drinks together while they were working for peace."

"Peace," He muttered. The galaxy hadn't seen peace for years, and Korkie doubted it would for many years to come. "If we'd had that, then we would never have had to leave Mandalore. Soniee and I could have been together in the palace. I wanted to give her everything. The palace, a family, a peaceful life."

"You never worried she'd choose me instead?" Lux joked.

"No. I'll admit I was worried when I first heard about Fox, but he's turned out to be a great friend."

"And I was the one who encouraged her to pursue a relationship with him. And then again with Saw," Lux sighed. "I am sorry. I should have never… Clearly you two belong together."

Korkie looked into his glass. "You only wanted to see her happy. And... That's all I want as well."

"Well I might still be able to comm her. We can tell her …"

"No. Don't tell her I'm here." On that he was adamant.

"She can probably sense that you're here."

Surely she had sensed him last night when he had held her in his arms. But it was only a dream, wasn't it? "If she can and she wants to see me that's fine but I won't force her to make up her mind. If she's decided to go with Saw then... that's her choice."

Lux frowned thoughtfully and then raised his glass. "To Soniee?"

"To Soniee."

He took a longer drink this time and Lux matched his pace.

"Can I get you a refill?" Lux asked. "This is good neat as well as on the rocks."

"I'll try anything once." Korkie held out his glass to be refilled.

Of course after they tried the whiskey neat they had to try Lux's favorite bottle, and his other favorite, and the one his northern friend gave him for his lifeday that Korkie agreed tasted like paint stripper. But maybe it wouldn't taste like paint stripper in a cocktail…

Before he knew it he and Lux were flopped halfway on the parlor sofa and half on the floor, surrounded by bottles. And then the world went dark.

…

Parsecs away on Alderaan another senator rushed past the news vendors at the spaceport, hurrying home to see his wife and daughter. He wasn't sure exactly why the publication caught his eye. He didn't usually give the tabloids the time of day. They were always picking up some story about his fellow government officials. He supposed even his own name had been dragged into an article or two. It didn't really matter. None of it was true. Bail Organa kept his own attention above such dramas.

His daughter would have to learn to do the same. There were certainly rumors about where he and Breha had acquired their little princess. Perhaps that's what had drawn his notice to the face on the cover of the publication. Maybe in his half glance it had looked like another guess at the orphan's true parentage.

But no. He took the time for a second look. The holozine he had spied wasn't a gossip rag at all. It was a reputable news source. A collapsed section of tunnel under Onderon's capital city of Iziz had taken a single casualty. Dara Rash-Bonteri, now known to be an alias for the one time Representative of Mandalore, Soniee Ordo, was once again being mourned by her half brother Senator Lux Bonteri.

He remembered the young representative from the senate. And before that even, she was Senator Amidala's page during the summit on Mandalore. Lux had been there too, barging in to declare Count Dooku a traitor and his mother's killer.

Both his parents, at least one rumored love, and now his sister. Poor Lux had lost everything. The least Bail could do was pay his respects so the lad would know he wasn't alone.

Bail greeted his family warmly when he reached the palace and told Breha he would only be a moment. He just needed to place one short comm.

The scene he was faced with over the hologram he could only describe as _College madness._ At least it looked like something he'd seen through the window of his own dormitory years ago.

Lux Bonteri lay slumped against a sofa, a bottle of whiskey clutched in his hand like Leia with her favorite doll. "Senator Organa," he slurred. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

 _We? Was he not alone?_ Bail half expected to see some young female wrapped in Lux's other arm. And yes there was a rustle of movement off to the other side of the hologram's image, but it wasn't a female.

Force! It looked like… but no it couldn't be! His good friend had spent some time on Onderon during the war but Bail didn't think he would have left his exile for the likes of Lux Bonteri! It couldn't be Obi-wan!

The figure shifted to see what the blue light was all about. No, it wasn't Obi-wan. This was a younger man but Bail knew the truth of it in an instant. "And Mr. Kryze, I presume?"

The Duchess's so-called nephew squinted at the hologram image. It was no wonder she'd kept him hidden away from the galaxy at that Academy. The resemblance was uncanny.

If she hadn't kept him out of the limelight, these two young men very likely would have grown up together and been best friends, or rivals. The question was: why were they together now? And Bail knew the answer. "I commed to offer my condolences for the death of Miss Ordo."

"She's alive!" Lux practically giggled. He let go of the bottle and it slipped to the floor and rolled away.

Korkie crawled closer to the comm table. "It's true. I've seen her!" Then he clutched at his forehead that must have been pounding with hangover but a smile couldn't be erased from his face. "She's alive."

Well, that changed everything. Bail paced. "Who else knows about this?"

Both young men shrugged and eyed each other blearily. "Only us I think," Lux answered.

"And her _buir_ ," Korkie corrected.

"Yes." Lux remembered. "Kork saw her fly off with her father."

"Her father?" Bail frowned. "You told the press that she was your sister."

"Yeah, I told them that." Lux nodded and then groaned and rubbed at the pain in his own temples. "But really her father is Bremon Kira. She's the real kriffing live princess of Onderon! How about that? She's the heir to the throne!"

Korkie laid his hand on a glass from somewhere and lifted it. "Long may she reign."

Both young men laughed but Bail thanked the Force that he was the one who was on the receiving end of all this. The Empire couldn't find out about her especially if the rumors were true and Soniee Ordo, or Kira was it? was really a Force user.

"I'm on my way." Bail was already pulling back on his cloak. "I'll be in touch but for all that is holy in the Galaxy don't answer anyone elses's comms and don't tell anyone else what you just told me!"

…

Bremon brought the ruping down just outside the city gate and Soniee slid easily from the saddle. Frayl turned his head and nuzzled her. Maybe with his nearly blind eyes the old beast thought that she was her mother.

She was sure that the cape she was wearing had once belonged to Melanna. It may have been the very one that her mother had worn in the holo that Lux had shown her.

"You sure he's back on the planet?" Bremon asked her, also dismounting.

Even without stretching out into the Force she knew. "Oh yes. He'll be in the city. He would want to be with Dendup to reassure the people that everything is okay after the tunnel collapse." She let out a breath. "Even if his friend/sister/lover wasn't involved."

Her father winced at the titles. "Doesn't it bother you, what they call you?"

"No." She pet Frayl as she spoke. "Lux and I know it's not true. And Korkie knew… Besides his stories are probably what's kept me alive this long."

Frayl gave a feeble cry of agreement.

"And you know where to find him?" Bremon asked.

She pulled the up the hood of her cloak. "I would assume at the palace but I might look in at the estate to see if anyone is there. It's on the way."

"Well, you be careful." He made her promise.

"I will, Papa." She smiled.

"Alright! I know. You're a grown woman and you can take care of yourself."

"No it's… it's nice to know someone is worried about me. I won't be long and then I'll come back and let you know what we decided."

"Frayl and I will be right here this evening."

…

The streets were packed with people and vehicles. Soniee hadn't seen the city this active since Empire Day and then she'd been avoiding it like the plague. This time she was right in the thick of it. She had no choice. Everyone was going the same direction, toward Yolahn Square.

She couldn't help but ask a passerby, "What's going on?"

Soniee needn't have worried about being recognized. The woman hardly spared her a glance. They all just wanted to get to the square as quickly as possible to get the best view. "Where have you been? That huge cave-in? It was an explosion in the caverns under the city."

The rumors flew around her. "Lux Bonteri, the senator, his sister was killed." "I heard she was the same Mandalorian girl who he met on Coruscant." "I heard she killed herself when she found out they were related." "No, the king had her killed because she tried to claim the throne." "She and Lux married in secret years ago before he found out she was his sister." "Dendup couldn't acknowledge their child as heir because of the incest."

The claims grew wilder but the only thing anyone could agree on was the fact that Lux Bonteri along with the king, would be addressing the crowd in just a few minutes. Surely they'd have the volume amplified for everyone to hear even if they couldn't get close to the stage. Still the mass of bodies pressed forward.

Lux stood on the steps before them. Yes, King Dendup was there as well and an armed guard and was that Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan and his family? They must have come to offer their support to a fellow ruling house. Even more rumors circulated at what their presence could mean.

Finally silence fell and King Dendup was able to make the announcement, by right of his birth Lux Bonteri would follow in succession to the crown.

It was what everybody suspected would happen eventually, though this was the first time the appointment had been made so publicly and formally. Cheers and renewed conversations erupted. And the crowd again jostled for a better look at the new crown prince.

The man next to Soniee stumbled into her path and they collided.

"Sorry ma'am." He quickly got himself sorted without taking his eye off the stage. It was almost like he was searching for someone he'd expected to be present, while at the same time trying not to be seen himself.

His northern accent caught her attention even through her own efforts to keep her hood stayed up so no one saw who she was. How many people around here spoke like that? Only the Blackwells. Did he know them?

Curious, she followed in his wake through the crowd as he tried to get closer.

Lux had regained a bit of control and he thanked the king and the people for the honor and for the kindness and condolences he had received in the recent event of the death of his sister.

There it was! The people were saying, He had admitted that they were family!

Both Soniee and the stranger seemed to prefer the shadows where no one would pay attention to them and that more than anything gave her the courage to ask.

"Did you know her?" She used her best southern Onderonian accent. "The deceased?"

"She was the friend of a friend. I was kind of hoping I would see her here but I guess I won't be so lucky."

He turned around giving her a full view of his face for the first time. He wore an eyepatch like a pirate from the holos but there was no greed or malice in his one eye, only sadness.

Then the both turned to watch as Lux continued his speech. "The Clone Wars tore apart our civilization and I have seen with my own eyes the transfer of power and the chaos that ensued in the vacuum caused by the lack of a strong leader. Many of you lost family and friends in the war. I also lost my father and my mother and now my sister… But as the Mandalorian's say, _Aliit Ori'shya Tal'din_! Family is more than blood. This planet, this system, this people are my own. You are my family!"

In the roar that followed Soniee shook her head, "He stole that straight from…" The one-eyed man was watching her. "... his sister's graduation speech." Lux had changed it up some to fit his own situation but the words that she had borrowed from Duchess Satine's famous oration were being used to good effect once again.

Lux raised a hand for silence and continued. "If you're calculating the logistics, you're considering the possibility."

Soniee had heard those words before too but didn't remember ever saying them to Lux. He went on, "In the light of my sister's death, it seemed like time for me to stop calculating and step up to the position, my second cousin, our King, Ramsis Dendup has been offering me for some time..."

So intent was she on trying to figure out who had said those words and why they sounded so familiar that when she looked again she saw that the one-eyed man had disappeared into the crowd. Soniee hoped he'd see his friend again. It was about time for her to disappear as well.

"Now I would ask that you all indulge me." Lux was saying as Soniee began to make her way the the edge of the crowd. "To honor my parents and my sister I would like to follow a Beast Riders' tradition and perform the Last Lonely Walk to the place where their bodies lie."

There was a murmur of approval from what must have been the Beast Rider contingent in the crowd. He reached back and was handed something by one of the armed guards behind him. "There was no body for us to remove from the wreckage of the cave-in." He actually sounded choked up. Did he really believe her dead? "But I have Dara's helmet." He held it up for them to see. "I have chosen to leave it in our family's tomb under the Unifras Temple."

 _Ah thanks!_ She thought. That's where he was headed. She would have to hurry to make it there before him.

…

She found the Rashes' tomb before she found the Bonteris'. The garbage and destruction attracted her attention since it seemed so out of place in a tomb, but once she saw the name at the top of the monument she knew instantly. Surely the acolytes of Unifras had no choice but to put up a gate in front of the alcove to protect those resting there from desecration.

Still, a little gate was nothing to a Force user. She closed her eyes and felt the mechanisms in the lock shift into place. Then she simply walked right through.

It made sense that she should come upon the Rash family crypt first. They were one of the oldest surviving families on Onderon. Well surviving if you counted that Soniee herself was the last living member of the family. The Rash family could trace their ancestors back to the service of King Ommin and Queen Amanoa. They were close to the royal family for their ability to keep secrets and their uncanny knack of occasionally once every few generations or so spouting out a prophecy that ended up coming true. Their son was betrothed to princess Galia before she ran away with Oron Kira.

They were loyal to the crown and to the cult of the Naddists. That is until the death of Ommin and Amanoa and the deposition of the Naddists by a few helpful Jedi.

No one wanted to be counted among the Naddists after that and the attendance at the Unifras temple increased exponentially. Hundreds of generations of Rash family members were more than likely buried here. Along with the Dendups and the Skelaris. Both of those clans who intermarried some time in the last thousand years were friends and advisors to the kings and queens. And then when Modon Kira gave up his crown to go and live in the jungle it was a Dendup that he made his warden.

Of course there were no Kira graves here. Soniee's father's family were beast riders through and through. Royal or not they would hold to their own traditions. Soniee supposed that when she really did breathe her last it was there in the Kira tombs that she would like to rest.

She had seen that place somber but light and airy. Not like these tunnels. She could tell why her father despised them. She shuddered and looked at the memorial before her. The most recent name carved into the stone was Sanda Rash, Sanjay's mother. She had been laid beside her husband Ommin Rash. Hmm named for the long dead Naddist king. Soniee hadn't realized. There were spaces left for Sanjay and someday his wife, who would have been Dalla if she had not been rescued in the nick of time.

Of course Sanjay's body was not here. Dalla had informed her of the rites that she and Aunt Shara had performed in the river with their friend Grigori Tandin as the only witness. Still some one had scrawled in the date of his death along with many other obscene comments.

His mother's resting place hadn't fared any better. The priests and acolytes who tended the tombs had tried to do what they could to clean off the writing. Then they had put up the gate to keep the vandals from reaching the place. Maintaining the grave of a hated tyrant must have been a full time job. Even if his remains were in the bottom of the river.

Neither were her mother's remains here in the family crypt. Soniee herself had stepped into the ship that had become her mother's resting place. She had gently lifted it aside in order to retrieve the crystal that she still wore around her neck. Soniee touched the spot and realized that she also still wore the other necklace.

The seven stones that were arranged in the shape of serpents were the very symbol of her mother's house. She gently unclasped it and stared in wonder. The stones were no longer red but purest white. Whatever she had done to break Grandfather's power had also cleansed the crystals he had bled so many thousands of years ago.

She looked again at the monument. It was true that her mother's remains had been on Concord Dawn at the time of its destruction, but Sanda Rash would not let her daughter be forgotten. There was a carving done in low relief of an angel. It looked as if it must have been fashioned as a copy of one of her uncle's paintings. Unfortunately even this beautiful piece of art had not been left unstained by the vandal's wrath.

…

The boy didn't really want to go down into the catacombs all alone but he was given a mission by the third highest priest in their order and he didn't dare refuse. He was only a first year supplicant and it was really a great honor to be asked to make sure the way was clear for the crown prince to come and make his visitation. Besides it got him away from the crowds swarming above.

Maybe he wouldn't meet anyone down here. They had all gone up to hear the speeches. Maybe that's why the priest gave this occupation to an acolyte of such lowly status. It's not like he could do much to get them out if they wanted to stay. He was told to ask politely and then what? The gods would protect him and tell him what to do.

But as he descended the stairs, his plain brown shoes clicking on the stone floor, he saw no one. There was no one here but the dead. That wasn't very reassuring. He held up his lantern and looked down the corridor that housed the Dendup family, kings all, back for one hundred generations.

He lit the lights in the sconces from his own has he passed so that those who were following him would have an easier time of it.

Wait. Was that a light ahead? Movement in the next alcove? No, it was his own flickering lantern and his imagination. He continued on. Some of the sculptures in the family crypts did look very lifelike.

Well just look at that one in the Rash alcove. He was glad the gate had been put up. He had heard the stories, that the family was cursed by the Naddists. Perhaps the usurper king would come back and demand to be reunited with his mother and sister.

And then, gods of Unifras! It wasn't his imagination! There was a cloaked figure within the enclosure gate! He gasped.

The figure turned. He expected to see an empty black hole or a fiery visage but instead he saw the lovely face of a young woman. She was the exact image of the angel in the carving behind her. She must have known he was about to scream because she raised a finger to her lips to petition his silence. He didn't make a sound.

The cloaked young woman, the very angel come to life, turned back towards her stone effigy. The acolyte watched in amazement as she raised her hand and all of the muck and grime that had defaced the monuments disappeared.

The boy fell to his knees, making a sign over his heart to ward off the power of Dxun and bowed his head. When he chanced to look up again the cloaked young woman was gone leaving the Rash family monument sparkling clean and the iron gate relocked.

She was nowhere to be seen. But the boy heard a voice in his mind telling him, "Don't be afraid. The power of Dxun has been broken."

...

He had squandered the time he should have been writing his speech drinking with Korkie Kryze. He would have been lost if Korkie Kryze had not helped him to write the speech in the speeder on the way to the palace. Dendup had approved when Lux showed him what they had hastily scribbled on sheet of flimsy. Bail Organa had frowned but he said it would do.

"Soniee said you were good at speeches." Lux whispered out of the corner of his mouth to his armed guard.

"Giving them maybe," the guard who was in fact Korkie Kryze answered back through his helmet's speaker. "Usually she was the one doing the research and writing."

It was true that most of the words that came out of his mouth that day sounded like something she would have said. He hoped he worked up enough emotion to convince the crowd. The fact was since he hadn't seen her yet himself, even though Korkie assured him of her continued existence, Lux could imagine what it would be like to really lose his friend. The pain of his parents' deaths also came back to him and the annoyance that the dwindling list of candidates left this responsibility to him.

But then when he said the words they had written and he had rehearsed, the people responded. They liked him. They were happy that he was going to be their next leader. He was bolstered by the power they entrusted to him. He couldn't let it go to his head.

He reached back and took Soniee's helmet from Korkie. He wondered if she was even now somewhere among the assembly and if she was enjoying attending her own funeral. He wasn't sure how his chosen memorial would be accepted.

Lux thought back to Steela's funeral. There was the formal state gathering with the king and the Jedi and the entire populous to honor the fallen war hero. And then there had been the quieter march to the beast rider cemetery. He and Dalla had researched the tradition so that they could help Saw fulfill what was expected of him as the last living relative.

Gods! What was Saw going to do when he heard about Soniee? This event wouldn't be kept secret. In fact, the way they were orchestrating things, it was meant to be spread all over the holonet. Soniee's death would save her. It would let her start over and if she accepted Bail's offer…

Lux had begun the silent walk towards the temple but his head was still buzzing with thoughts. That's when he heard it. It started with one voice and then another joined that one in harmony. He had heard the song before at Steela's funeral. Shara Blackwell had sung it then. He didn't know who was singing now, as another voice was added and then another, but one thing was clear. The beast riders in the assembly were showing him their sympathy and support.

Some how entirely unintended he had united the city dwellers and the beast riders in his grief and the announcement of his eventual ascension to the throne. Well, he supposed that made up for, in part, the stain on his personal character. He might be an incestuous playboy but at least the people of Onderon accepted him as one of their own.

The northerners had welcomed him too. The Blackwells had treated him as one of their own. Where was Dalla? She said she was on her way here. Sailing, of course, when there were perfectly capable planet hoppers that could have flown her here in time. He wondered if he should tell her the truth about Soniee. It seemed like they told each other everything, and she had always kept his secrets in the past…

He had reached the temple and his guard was stopped at the entrance. No armed military was allowed beyond that point.

Korkie shrugged, "If she knows I'm here than she'll find me, elek?"

Lux nodded and went on alone down into the crypts. For a moment the silence was broken by an excited acolyte who swore he had seen an angel while attending to his duties but the priest quickly shushed the boy and ushered Lux on his way.

He walked past the Dendup alcove and the gated Rash family tomb. If that angel wasn't supposed to be the likeness of Soniee's mother he didn't know what was. And it was as pristine as it must have been when it was carved twenty years ago. He didn't know why but he had expected that the Rash monuments might have been defaced after the war. Perhaps someone had come along and done a little straightening before the crown prince made his visit.

Lux paused a moment by the Skelari monument. There his grandfather, cousin of Ramsis Dendup, and last of that line was interned. He had to walk even further to the Bonteri tombs. They were a family known for their loyal military service but until the last generation they hadn't risen very high in the social ranking of Iziz. Mina Skelari-Bonteri had certainly rocketed them through the stratosphere when she fell in love with the young lieutenant who was posted as her guard that fateful spring day.

The monument for the Bonteri family consisted of a single large stone. It didn't go back for generation upon generation but, Lux suddenly grew rather uncomfortable. The stone itself could have been the hiding place for several armed men. Was he just paranoid? Now that he had staked his claim on the throne he would be a target for anyone who didn't like him or his policies.

Slowly he approached the tomb that had his parents and grandparents names etched into its surface. One day, he supposed, his name would be carved there also. Hopefully not in the too near future.

He held on tightly to the Mandalorian helmet in his hands and then nearly dropped it as he heard a voice speak.

"It took you long enough. I've been waiting down here for absolute ages."

He looked back the way he had come to make sure that no one had followed him and then pulled his friend out from behind the stone and hugged her tightly.

"You knew I was alright?" Soniee asked, a little worried.

Lux nodded with a laugh. It was still good to see her in the flesh even though he'd been told she had survived. "Yeah. Well, there was no body and you do have a knack for getting out of a tight spot."

"I guess I do," she agreed.

Now that they were together and could actually talk everything that he had wanted to say flew out of his head.

She swatted his arm playfully. "So you're really the crown prince now. Congratulations!"

"Heir to the wardenship." He corrected. "No thanks to you."

"I would never put you in that spot if I didn't…"

"Nah. Don't worry about it. I think I always knew there was no getting out of it."

"Well, maybe someday I'll be able to…" She began and then stopped again. What could she do and when would it ever be safe for her to even show her face?

"What are you plans?"

She shrugged. "I had thought I would meet up with Saw and help him rid the Galaxy of injustice." A tear, unbidden, rolled down her cheek though she quickly dashed it away and tried to cover with a laugh.

Had they grown that close to each other, that she was really going to run away with him? Maybe Korkie was right about being with Saw making her happy. "And after my speech out there he's likely to get word that… But you could still go to him. Tell him that it was all a sham?"

She shook her head and swallowed. "No. I thought I could be with Saw. I wanted to be for a while. I wanted to forget everything else, everyone else, but I can't do that."

 _Was she saying that she wanted to go back to Korkie?_

With a sigh she collected herself and continued. "I guess I'll just end up another lonely Kira hiding in the jungle."

"Soniee, you don't have to…"

"Or maybe I can go up north. I could stay with Aunt Shara for a while, maybe learn how to sail a ship like my namesake."

Lux strived to end her tirade. "What if there was another option?"

"What become a hermit on Dxun? I suppose I could try to make some good out of Freedon Nadd's discoveries or…"

"No." Lux took ahold of her shoulders. "The reason that Senator Organa came to Onderon is because he has a proposition for you."

"The senator… knows I'm alive."

"I... sort of let it slip. But he's the only one and he thinks that this puts you in the perfect position to help him in his cause."

Soniee shook her head in confusion. "His cause?"

He lowered his voice in excitement. "Bail is just beginning to gather some of those beings who were loyal to the Republic, those who were… friends of the Jedi."

Her eyes widened. "To find them? Help them?"

"I don't know the extent of it. I don't think he's ready to give out too much information to just anyone. Or maybe it's so early in the game that he doesn't even know what the organization will look like just yet."

She considered and he went on. "I do know that he was good friends with Kenobi and Padme and Ahsoka."

"I'll speak to him," Soniee decided and then she smiled. "It's the least I could do. He did come all this way for my funeral."

…

Soniee tried later to explain to her father what she and the senator from Alderaan had discussed. "I'll be working behind the scenes not taking part in any serious action like I would have been with Saw."

He seemed glad of that. "But you'll still be going away."

"I can't just…" She couldn't just sit in the jungle like he had done since the death of her mother. "I'll be doing some good for the galaxy, and if we're successful, _when_ we're successful, I'll come home."

"And you'll keep us updated on how you're doing?"

She didn't know how she would get him that information but she promised. "I'll be in contact with Lux even if I can't tell him where I am and what I'm doing and I'm sure he'll pass on the news to you."

"I'll be coming into the city every day hoping for word." He smiled his kind, shy smile.

She gasped in mock surprise. "Well I've accomplished something then haven't I? I got a Kira out of the jungle!"

Bremon sniffed. "Not for good and ever, just for the occasional visit."

She laughed and pulled him aboard her little B-7 light freighter. "I have something for you to keep for me while I'm gone."

"It's not a comm unit is it? Because I would just lose it."

"I know you would." Soniee smirked. "But I doubt you'll let these out of your sight." She stepped aside in the cockpit and turned the co-pilot's seat around so he could see what lay there.

"Are those…" He did a double take studying the smooth round objects, glancing at her face and then returning to regard the treasure.

"Drexl eggs!" she grinned. "They're probably fossilized or something but they are beautiful."

He lifted one of the eggs carefully and cradled it in his hands. "No one has held one of these in a thousand years," he whispered as if his voice might shatter it.

"I found them in the chamber that Uncle Nadd wanted me to open and not much else."

He nodded, placing one egg carefully down and picking up another. "I'm still sorry you ever had to go into that place."

"No one ever will have to again," She promised laying her own hand over his.

He looked her in the eyes and smiled proudly.

"I'd like for you to keep them safe for me while I'm away."

In his surprise he fumbled the egg but caught it before it struck the ground. "Me keep them?"

"It's not like they're likely to hatch while I'm gone but in case they do I can't think of anyone else who would be more capable of handling the hatchlings."

He dropped his gaze, humbly. "At least I know now that you have a reason to come back."

"I have the most important reason in the Galaxy to come back." She squeezed his hand. "My Papa is here."

She saw the tears bead up in his eyes but before either of them could say more there was a knock on the ship's hatchway.

It was… oh she had forgotten his name. Senator Organa had introduced her earlier. It was something or other Antilles. He had come to bring her little freighter aboard the larger Tantive transport ship. She was glad to know that she wouldn't have to leave her precious ship behind now that she was dead.

Soniee and her father disembarked so the other pilot could do his job and just walked silently together in the last few minutes before they had to part. A soft fabric bag containing the three eggs was draped over his shoulder and he looked as if he wanted to say something but he was holding back.

"What is it?" she asked finally.

Bremon sighed. "You're dead to everyone now but for a few of us. Your husband knew you were alive before. Will you contact him to let him know that you are still among the living?"

Soniee considered before she answered. "I think he knows." She didn't want to reach out to Korkie. Maybe she was afraid. Maybe after that dream she had had a few nights ago she wondered if it could really be true.

Then all too soon it was time for her to go. Lux had promised he would be here to see her off even though he was terribly busy with all his new official responsibility.

No one would think it was strange for him to come to see the Organas off before their journey back to Alderaan, but he hadn't arrived yet. There was really nothing else she was waiting for before she went aboard herself.

She gave her father one last hug with promises to see or at least send word of her well-being soon. Something was nagging at her as she did so. Was there someone else she was supposed to say goodbye to? No one else knew she was still alive, did they?

Before she could think further on the subject Bremon Kira spun her around and tied up her hair as he had done the first time they had met and so many times for her mother.

Soniee thanked him again and stepped onto the gangway. Her father waved at her and she waved back. Then another motion caught her attention. A figure running to the space dock stopped close to where Bremon was standing.

 _Manda!_ It couldn't be him! She held onto the frame of the hatchway as her knees went suddenly weak. _Korkie?_ She mouthed but she knew he could hear her.

He didn't have to speak aloud. She could hear his voice clearly in her mind. _I couldn't let you go without letting you know… I love you! I always will! Nothing will ever change that!_

She nodded, tears brimming over her lashes. _I love you, too!_ She gestured toward her father and watched as the two men she loved best in the entire Galaxy shook hands and introduced themselves.

Papa glanced back at her in wonder and she laughed. To Korkie she thought, _Take care of him. Take care of each other, for me_.

 _I will._ He promised. _Ni kar'taylir darasuum, cyar'ika_.

 _Darasuum_.

And then someone was running up the gangway and nearly bowling into her. It was Lux of course. He clapped her on the shoulder. "All ready to go?" Then he noticed the tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes. I'm fine."

Lux looked back at the edge of the loading dock and saw the ginger haired young man walking away with the graying patriarch. "You got to say your goodbyes?"

She nodded. "It's only for a little while and I've got work to do."

* * *

She seems to have finally found her place in the Galaxy. Don't worry I won't make you wait long for the Epilogue and then clear your calendars for the upcoming arrival of not one but two new stories of Onderon!

"Ship's Log" will take us 1000 years into the past to follow the adventures of Sanya's namesake that we have only up to this point heard mentioned in legends.

"Candle on the Water" picks up 5 years after the ending of "Some Say" to find out how the occupants of Onderon's capitol city of Iziz and islands of the Northern Sea are fairing under the Imperial regime.

Thank you so much to all of my readers and those who have followed or favorited and left comments. Your encouragement keeps me going!


	42. Epilogue

42: the answer to life the universe and everything.  
Where will Soniee go next on her journey? There is a way she can make use of her talents she just needs to be pointed in the right direction.

* * *

Lux welcomed her aboard the Tantive I. It wasn't as grand as the Coronet but it was large enough to carry her own dear freighter which had already been brought aboard with all of her things. He gestured expansively as if he owned the place and gave her the royal tour.

"There's someone I want you to meet." Lux led her to a room that could only be described as a nursery worthy of a princess. And there she was, sitting on the floor playing contentedly with her toys, the toddler Leia Organa. She grinned at Lux like he was a favorite uncle and held her arms out to him.

Soniee had heard that Lux had twin goddaughters who lived in the islands on the northern sea but she had never witnessed him with a child before. He was a natural. He would be a wonderful father some day.

"Come say hello to Aunty Sanya." He carried the little girl towards her and Soniee was at a loss for a moment. As comfortable as her friend obviously was with children she was anything but.

"H-hello." Soniee gave it her best effort. She wasn't to suffer long however because after a brief acknowledgement from the princess, Leia was ready to squirm back down to the floor and toddle her way over to something more interesting.

"She is adorable." Soniee had to admit. "She was a war orphan, right?"

"Yes." Lux answered simply.

"Just like me. Or like I thought. Maybe her parents are really there somewhere like my Papa. Do they have any idea who her parents were?"

He smiled wickedly. "Most people seem to think she's ours."

"What?" Soniee nearly shrieked and Lux laughed.

"Well, most of the tabloids had already figured that I'd gotten you pregnant before you disappeared the first time from Coruscant," he reminded her. "You didn't look pregnant at your graduation but we could have made up for lost time while we were both in Sundari."

She looked away from him and she couldn't bring herself to look at the child either. She had been pregnant at her graduation with a child she never got to hold in her arms. They left the nursery and walked down the corridor towards her own assigned quarters.

He must have sensed his misstep and he hurried to recover. "I'm not sure what made me tell that reporter that my sister had grown up on Alderaan. Maybe it was just the connection from the play I was thinking of at the time." He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Someone must have put the two stories together and figured that after Concord Dawn you had retreated to that planet to have our child."

"You really should write your own plays, Lux." She said, trying to keep the mood light. "Acting out your inventions has saved my life more than once." Then she remembered something. "Although if you can't even write your own speeches…"

He looked offended. "What are you going on about?"

"You at least had help composing those words you said at my funeral."

"Oh that. Did you…" he asked curiously.

She nodded. "I saw him for a moment just now before I boarded."

"And?"

"We've…" she sought for the proper word, "reconciled. And we're going to keep in touch."

"In touch?" he smirked at her. "While you're flying around who knows where in the galaxy?"

She swatted him and he feigned a great injury. "Well, he _is_ my husband and he's going to keep an eye on my Papa for me."

"He's going to be busy with more than that."

"Oh really?" she mused. "What did he tell you?"

"That he was disappointed that he never got to know his father and now he would like to do some research, maybe a little archaeology on the lore of the Jedi order." Lux shrugged his shoulders. "Not being Force sensitive himself it might be harder to find the sites to look into but he also might slip under the radar of the Empire who seem to only want to find and destroy those of you who can actually use the power."

Soniee was truly moved by the notion.

"You approve?" Lux asked her.

"I think it's a wonderful idea!" Maybe their paths would cross as they each did their jobs. She almost wanted to contact him right away to compare notes. She fingered the kyber crystal she still wore on a cord around her neck.

Lux noticed. "He's already started collecting artifacts. He now wears a crystal just like that one that he found when he was looking for you down in the tunnels."

The crystal. It must have been the one from Barriss's lightsaber that had been purified when she'd driven the dagger into the bloodstained stone. Well, if he had one now maybe that would make contacting him easier! But if speaking to him through the Force would draw attention to his location… She dropped her pendant back down under her collar where it would stay hidden. "It could still be dangerous though."

"Well it's not like he'll be going around proclaiming that he's the son of a Jedi and a Duchess. He's thinking of reinventing himself just like you have so many times."

"With your help. Thank you for that by the way."

"I was happy to do it." Just then his comm unit buzzed and he looked down to see what it was about. "Ah the _Southern Whore_ is coming in to dock on the river."

"Better late than never." Soniee gave him an honest smile. "But that's all the way on the other side of the city. You'd better hurry if you want to comfort Dalla in her grief."

His grin was rather roguish and he wagged his eyebrows. "You wouldn't mind would you, if I just told Dalla about your still being alive? She's good at keeping secrets."

"Tell each other everything, do you?" She teased. "No, I don't mind. You can tell your girlfriend that I'm alive and well, but she needn't worry about me being a rival for your affections."

"She'll be glad to hear it." he smirked. "I'll miss you, Soniee." He gave her a last hug. "But I think you're in good hands."

She hugged him back glad he couldn't see her tearing up once again. "I think so, too. And thank you once again for working all this out." She attempted to surreptitiously dry her eyes before she faced him again.

He pretended not to notice. "I'll talk to you soon."

She waved him off with the Onderonian words for goodbye that meant, I'll be thinking of you till I see you again. _"Quaimel retrovex,_ Lux."

…

Soniee was shown to her quarters that were comfortable but not overly lavish and allowed a little time to settle in. She wasn't however given even the hint of a chance to become bored. Almost as soon as the ship had left Onderon's atmosphere and entered a hyperspace lane, a gold protocol droid came to request that she attend a meeting.

In the boardroom she was introduced to a few of the beings she would be working with in her new position as… what exactly she didn't know. There was no title yet for the undercover operative she was about to become.

There were beings of several species represented at the table and it made sense to her why they would have stayed aboard the _Tantive I_ while their superior acted as the face of the operation. Even in Iziz where beings of other species were welcomed, in the predominantly human population brightly colored skin or fur or lekku were bound to attract attention.

A dark skinned woman, who would have almost fit in without notice in Malgan market but for the fact that she was quite tall, addressed Soniee first. "We have heard you worked with Saw Gerrera. Could you tell us more about him?"

Soniee didn't intent to blush but she could feel the color rise in her cheeks unbidden. Before she could answer Senator Organa spoke from the head of the table. "Soniee, this is Idrissa. She is going to be undertaking a mission to meet up with Mr. Gerrera and see if working with him would be to our mutual benefit."

"Oh." Soniee frowned at the table. She had almost gotten used to the idea of Sawyer Gerrera believing her to be dead. If they were working together he would surely learn the truth.

Bail must have guessed the reason for her discomfort. "Your position, Miss Ordo, would not involve brushing shoulders with our contacts in such a way as to reveal your identity."

She nodded and cleared her throat. "Yes, of course. What would you like to know?"

Idrissa, glad that the situation had been quickly diffused, went on. "We are aware that he took part in the rebellion that successfully returned the rightful king of Onderon to power and that he was trained for this purpose by Jedi consultants?"

"Yes, that's true," Soniee allowed. "I wasn't on the planet at the time but he has continued to use what the Jedi taught him to… make things difficult for the Empire."

There were smiles around the table as if they all agreed that this was a good thing but Soniee didn't want to give them the wrong idea.

"Saw lost his parents and his sister and many friends in the war," She continued. "Their deaths still weigh heavily on him and…"

"You think he acts out of vengeance?" someone suggested.

"Not exactly." Soniee frowned. "I believe he see them something like martyrs for the cause. He knows that death is a part of war. He's not afraid to make necessary sacrifices. He's just…" she struggled for the proper word. "He has the tendency to act rashly without thinking or asking permission. He would rather beg pardon after the fact or refuse to apologize at all."

"Sounds like the stories of Jedi General Skywalker," someone laughed and looked to Bail Organa. "That is who trained the rebels on Onderon during the war, is it not?"

The senator nodded but he looked a bit sad at the memory. He had been friends with Anakin.

Idrissa brought them back to the point, focusing still on Soniee. "And now with the news of your death he will be in mourning again. You think this would distract him from his purpose?"

Soniee fought to keep her own emotions in check. She remembered that time in the Kom'rk years before when Obi-wan Kenobi had taught her the Jedi code. _There is no emotion, there is peace_. "Yes, I believe so," she said aloud.

The woman's look in her direction was all compassion. "I'll keep that in mind when I meet with him. Thank you."

The meeting broke up after that and the operatives divided into groups or went singly to find food or rest or recreation. All of which was available to them on the transport. Senator Organa, however, held back and waited to speak to Soniee alone.

"What do you think?" he asked her. "You seem a little overwhelmed."

"It all seems very organized and… moving in the right direction." She took a breath. "I'm still not really sure how I fit in, what it is exactly that you expect me to do."

He took the chair beside hers so that they could converse more intimately. "It was rumored that you have a talent for… finding people, maybe not their exact locations but at least their… situation."

"Well, it usually has to be someone I'm acquainted with and if I have some general area in which too look. I couldn't just find some random person in the entire Galaxy. Is there someone specific you want me to look for?"

He smiled. "Yes and I believe it is someone you once counted as a friend."

"Who?" She asked. A few weeks ago when she was on Dxun she had thought she felt the Force signature of Obi-wan Kenobi alive and well. There had been no victorious announcement from the Empire that this particular Jedi Master had been captured or killed. Perhaps Bail Organa wished her to find his old friend so that he could help lead their rebel band as he had helped to train the Onderonians during the war?

His words were a surprise, "Ahsoka Tano."

"You believe she's alive?"

"She was no longer technically a member of the Jedi order." He ticked off his reasons. "She was trained by Anakin Skywalker and like him was one of the wiliest Force users I've ever come across. I think it very possible that she escaped Order 66 and went into hiding." He looked at Soniee intently. "You were with her at the Siege of Mandalore, were you not?"

"Well, not exactly there." She studied the tabletop unable to meet his eyes. "I observed some of her actions from afar. I didn't see what happened to her after. I was… unconscious and then out of commission for several months…"

"But you can… sense her in the Force? You've done it before?"

Soniee nodded. "She should be easier for me to find than a non-Force user. I hadn't tried before because if she was in hiding I didn't want to draw attention and I didn't know in what sector to begin the search… Do you have some idea where?"

There was an undisguised excitement coloring his words now. "There have been rumors of a young female using the Force on the outer rim planet Thabeska."

"Thabeska?" The name rang no bells. She was sure she had never heard of the place before. "I'll need a map. I'm not familiar. Or traveling to the system would be even better."

"We'll get you whatever you need." Bail rose to stand, smiling. "And I thank you again for joining us."

"It's nice to have a purpose again."

…

Back on Onderon under the Temple of Unifras the small acolyte took the priest's hand and dragged him toward the Rash family Tomb.

"Well, you certainly did a fine job of cleaning away the debri for the Prince's visit. But you know the sin of pride for bragging about your work…"

"But I didn't do it!" the boy insisted. "It was the angel!"

The boy had gone on about little else since the event that had thrown their order into chaos. Who ever heard of a royal observing a Beast Rider custom in the religious sanctuary?

"This angel…" the priest sighed in an attempt to maintain his patience. "What did she look like?"

"She looked just like that!" he pointed at the carving made in the likeness of the Rash family's daughter who had flown away from Onderon and died in a crash on some faraway world. No body had been brought back for burial but the Rash matriarch had commissioned the memorial from a painting done by her son.

They had seemed such an upstanding and honorable family then, though torn apart by the deaths of daughter and father and the unfaithful wife of the son. The priest remembered from his own time as an acolyte like this boy how everything had seemed to unravel for the House of Rash after those events.

"So she just flew in and…"

"She didn't fly, Father. She walked just like a normal person but somehow she got inside the gate and she was just standing there looking at the names on the stone and at the sculpture. She was wearing a cloak but she heard me and she turned and her face, it was just like the angel's"

She sounded relatively ordinary other than entering a locked gate. Perhaps the young woman had picked the lock before the boy came upon her. The priest stepped up to the iron bars and examined the locking mechanism. It didn't appear to have been tampered with and whoever, if anyone, had unlocked it had managed to return the object to its previous secure state.

The boy was right about one thing though. The priest himself had been witness to the condition of the gravesite before the Prince's visit. There had been garbage on the ground all around the stones where it had been thrown through the bars by less well meaning guests. And whoever it was who came to the tomb on that day had been more successful at scouring away the graffiti than all the brothers and sisters of their order.

"You saw the young woman clean the stone?" The priest asked before he drew the key out of his pocket and unlocked the gate to take a closer look.

"No sir," the acolyte demurred. "When I saw her face, I knelt and bowed my head. When I looked up again she was gone and the tomb was as you see it."

The priest could not discount what he saw with his own eyes. "Did she say anything to you, my son?"

The boy didn't speak for a moment and the priest looked back at him expecting an answer.

"N-no sir, your grace," he said quickly. "Not out loud, anyway."

"Not out loud?"

"In my head." The boy rubbed his temple. "I heard her say, 'Don't be afraid. The power of Dxun has been broken.'"

The priest made the sign with his hand over his heart and inwardly prepared himself to further study what he was starting to believe had now become a holy place.

Stepping up closer to the stone monument, the priest thought he saw something glinting in the light of the lantern that the boy was carrying. He gestured for the acolyte to step closer and reached for the shining object. It was a necklace wrought in the shape of seven serpents heads. It was just like the rumored ancient Rash family betrothal necklace but that piece was said to boast of blood red stones and this one was made up of the purest clear crystals. It was priceless.

The acolyte who continued to look on remarked innocently, "maybe the angel left it in place of the helmet."

"The helmet?" The priest asked distractedly.

"The prince, he brought down his sister's helmet to leave at his family's tomb. He left without it but no one's been able to find it and no one else other than the brothers and sisters have been down here since then."

The priest pondered these things.

"So you believe me now, about what I say I saw?" The boy asked.

"Yes, my son. I believe you were the witness of a vision of the Saint Melaana."

* * *

Thank you so so so much to all of my readers. This has been such an amazing journey and thank you for coming along with me. There are more stories of Soniee and her Onderonian and Mandalorian friends left to be told. Just today I wrote a scene that has been in my mind since I first began "The Ashla Spectrum". I finally found the spot where it fits in the next episode of the saga.  
Stay tuned for news of: "Candle On The Water: a tale of Onderon" and "Ship's Log: from the journals of Sanya Harkon"


	43. Preview of coming events

Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah  
Two is twice as nice as one  
Let's get together right away  
We'll be having twice the fun  
And you can always count on me  
A gruesome twosome we will be  
Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah!

Lux's Sister and I have been at it again with two new stories coming your way!

The first "Candle On The Water" is already available here on fanfiction dot net. It is a sequel not only of this story but also of our joint effort _Polaris_.

s/13119699/1/Candle-on-the-Water

We have gone all the way on this one even developing a new/old language for the Ondronian people. Hey, if Karen Traviss can give the Mandos a native tongue we can fish out Old Onderonian, right?

See our forum for more information on all of our Ondronian tales:

forum/Polaris-tales-of-the-Blackwells-and-the-Onderonian-Northern-Sea/202176/

For the second offering, we've told you a bit about Sanya Harkon, infamous sea captain and pirate, namesake of Sanya Galia Kira. Melaana Rash was given a copy of a children's book about her by Lana Flint Blackwell when she visited the Northern Sea. Shara Rupingwood Blackwell was inspired to modify her wedding vows after reading a novel based on the story of the legendary pirate queen.

And so for you a little teaser of:

SHIP'S LOG

MY 12TH BIRTHDAY

Well it's my sister's birthday too. We're twins, so that sort of goes without saying.

I wanted a ship for my birthday. You'd think that wouldn't be too tall an order when you come from the most famous ship building family in the Northern sea. But evidently proper twelve year old Ladies-in-training don't get ships for their birthday. They get journals to jot down all their hopes and dreams for the future.

Maybe that's what Talya's writing in hers. I don't care what the Dxun she writes in hers, aye? If I have to do this to make Mother and Papa happy I'm going to make mine a proper log book. I'll chronicle all of my adventures. That is if I ever get to have any kriffing adventures.

Aye, Talya. I wrote the word kriffing right there on the first page of my shiny kriffing new log book!

Now if only something would happen that I could kriffing write about! But then… a lot of things happened this summer, not to me specifically although I suppose some of them affect me. The rest of Onderon though… It all started with the blood moon…


End file.
